Nottingham Forest remained in the race for a Champions League place despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Eberechi Eze opened the scoring from the spot after the video assistant referee (VAR) intervened to show Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels taking out Tyrick Mitchell in the penalty area.

But the hosts' lead lasted just four minutes as Murillo flicked on Neco Williams' powerful strike past Dean Henderson.

The goals arrived after a lacklustre first half, in which each side lacked quality in front of goal.

Mitchell delivered a superb cross to an unmarked Daniel Munoz, who could only sweep an awkward volley straight at Sels, while Anthony Elanga failed to complete a blistering counter-attack when he sent his strike at Henderson.

Chris Wood felt he should have been awarded a first-half penalty when he was pulled back by Munoz as Forest delivered a free-kick into the box, but referee Andrew Madley waved away the appeals and VAR quickly backed up his decision.

In a frantic spell after the interval, Ismaila Sarr was kept out by the onrushing Sels before Maxence Lacroix made a crucial block at the other end to stop Wood from scoring his 20th Premier League goal of the season.

Eze puffed out his chest and soaked up the admiration of the Palace crowd after slamming his penalty into the left corner, but Murillo's quick-thinking flicked finish dulled the atmosphere at Selhurst Park.

Substitute Eddie Nketiah thought he had won the game at the death for Palace when he prodded a wide shot from Eze into the back of the net, but their celebrations were cut short by the offside flag.

The draw keeps Forest sixth, two points behind Newcastle and Chelsea - in fourth and fifth - with three games remaining.

Palace remain 12th and are three points away from equalling their best Premier League points tally of 49, set last season.

After a difficult week in which they missed out on reaching the FA Cup final and their top-five hopes were dented by a loss to Brentford, Forest were in desperate need of three points to boost their bid for Champions League football next season.

With both teams lacking a clinical edge in the first half, the visitors were set back by Sels' rashness in rushing off his line and clattering into Mitchell for Palace's penalty.

A moment of magic from Murillo, whether intentional or not, got Forest out of trouble, but Palace were the better team after the equaliser and unfortunate not to find a winner as Eze rattled the woodwork in the 88th minute.

Two points behind Newcastle and Chelsea, Forest are far from out of the Champions League race given they face Enzo Maresca's Blues on the last day of the season.

More worrying for Nuno Espirito Santo will be the manner in which Murillo limped off with an apparent hamstring injury.

The Brazilian has been crucial to Forest's success this season alongside his Serbian centre-back partner Nikola Milenkovic, who will also need to be assessed after taking a knock to the head in second-half stoppage time.

Palace manager Oliver Glasner named the same side which emphatically beat Aston Villa 3-0 in their FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.

Still riding the wave of that joyous occasion, Palace enjoyed a lively start before being pinned back by the visitors.

After missing a spot-kick at Newcastle last month, Eze banished those penalty demons with a ruthless strike that was sure to impress England boss Thomas Tuchel in the stands.

The same could not be said of Eze's team-mates, who lacked his clinical edge.

Nketiah and Lacroix sent clear-cut chances over the bar late on, while Nketiah could easily have stepped into an onside position for his disallowed goal.

Palace's bid to qualify for Europe via the league appears all but over and their best hope of securing a Europa League place is by doing something they never have - winning the FA Cup when they face Manchester City in the final on 17 May.