Callum Hudson-Odoi scores brilliant debut goal to earn Forest draw with Burnley
Callum Hudson-Odoi reminded the Premier League what he is capable of with a brilliant debut goal to earn Nottingham Forest a 1-1 draw against Burnley.
It has been 18 months since the 22-year-old last played in England’s top flight as his promising career at Chelsea came to an end, but he has returned with a bang after a year on loan at Bayer Leverkusen.
He was Forest’s brightest spark following his deadline-day move from Stamford Bridge, bringing his side level in the second half with a brilliant curling effort after Zeki Amdouni had put the Clarets ahead.
Hudson-Odoi is reunited with Steve Cooper, who coached the winger when he was part of England’s Under-17 World Cup-winning squad, and England coach Gareth Southgate hopes the Welshman can get the best out of a player he has not used since 2019 and who is considering changing his allegiance to Ghana.
The point for Burnley allowed them to get their campaign back on track after three straight defeats, but they may be disappointed they didn’t leave with all three after being denied a late winner by VAR while they were in the game with 10 men after Lyle finished Foster elbowed Ryan Yates.
Forest, who handed Hudson-Odoi and Ibrahim Sangare their debuts, looked dynamic in the first 20 minutes and caused Burnley problems with their pace at the break.
Hudson-Odoi, playing his first Premier League game since January 2022, was having fun and saw a shot blocked after cutting in from the left.
He came even closer in the 16th minute when Taiwo Awoniyi set him up and his 20-yard attempt was saved by Clarets goalkeeper James Trafford.
Burnley weathered the storm and got into the game.
They fired a warning shot in the 25th minute when Amdouni fired a low shot towards the bottom corner, but Matt Turner got down well to keep the ball out.
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But the Clarets actually took the lead in the 41st minute when Luca Koleosho beat Joe Worrall on the left and pulled the ball back for Amdouni to fire it into the bottom corner.
Hudson-Odoi appeared to be Forest’s most dangerous player and brought the City Ground to life just after the hour mark.
Awoniyi did well to control a high cross and laid it off to the former Chelsea winger, who cut inside and sent a 20-yard curling effort past the post, with the goal surviving a VAR check.
Burnley weren’t so lucky as they thought they had regained the lead in the 76th minute when Sander Berge got past Scott McKenna and set up Foster, but the Norwegian had used his hand and the visitors were repelled.
And Foster’s experience with VAR didn’t get any better as he was shown a red card in injury time after referee Robert Jones was asked to check the pitchside monitor after the striker was caught elbowing Yates.