WATCH: All Whites striker Chris Wood celebrates birthday with goal ...

New Zealand international Chris Wood has celebrated his 33rd birthday with a record-breaking goal against Manchester United in England’s Premier League.

Wood’s second-half goal helped Nottingham Forest to a 3-2 win, the first time in almost 30 years that Forest have beaten United at Old Trafford.

Main photo: Chris Wood rises at the far post to head the ball into the Manchester United net.

The win lifts Forest to fifth place on the table, and the records keep tumbling for the All Whites captain.

By scoring in his latest game, Wood became Nottingham Forest’s all-time leading scorer, with 25 goals for the club, breaking a record held by Bryan Roy for 27 years.

This season, Wood has scored 10 goals in only 15 Premier League appearances.

Wood has scored 79 EPL goals, putting him in 60th place on the all-time scorers’ list, ahead of such big-name players as Erling Haaland (76 goals), Eric Cantona (70 goals), Kevin De Bryne (70 goals) and David Beckham (62 goals).

He has scored double-figure tallies in six different EPL seasons, a feat matched by an elite crop of strikers, including Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Harry Kane (Spurs), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City), Alexandre Lacazette (Arsenal) and Son Heung-Min (Spurs).

Wood’s latest headed goal places him fifth on the all-time list of EPL headed goals, with 27.

Chris Wood: ‘I’ll keep pushing as hard as I can’

After the match, Wood told reporters: “It’s fantastic, it’s nice I can keep doing well for the team.

“That’s all I want to do –— keep pushing up and getting as many goals as possible for the team, and see where it can take us.

“I’ll keep pushing as hard as I can to stay here for a long period of time.”

Wood has scored 21 goals in 31 EPL outings since Nuno Espirito Santo took over as manager in December 2023.

“He’s doing amazing. We’re so glad to have him. It’s never too late,” Nuno told Match of the Day.

2024-25 Premier League Golden Boot

13 — Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) 10 — Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest) 9 — Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Yoane Wissa (Brentford) 8 — Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea)2024-25 7 — Matheus Cunha (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)

Chris Wood’s six double-figure seasons

2017-18: 10 (Burnley) 2018-19: 10 (Burnley) 2019-20: 14 (Burnley) 2020-21: 12 (Burnley) 2023-24: 14 (Nottingham Forest) 2024-25: 10 (Nottingham Forest)

All-time Premier League headed goals

40 — Peter Crouch, Harry Kane 33 — Christian Bentenke 32 — Olivier Giroud 27 — Chris Wood

Watch Chris Wood’s latest goal

Result

Game played on Sunday December 8, 2024 (NZT)

Manchester United 2 (Rasmus Høilund 18′, Bruno Fernandes 61′) Nottingham Forest 3 (Nikola Milenkovic 2′, Morgan Gibbs-White 47′, Chris Wood 54′)

This story was first published on December 8, 2024.

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