The visitors dominated possession in the opening exchanges but struggled to create clear-cut chances throughout the half.
Somewhat against the run of play, Jesse Lingard found himself through on goal for Forest, but was brought down by Tyrick Mitchell on the edge of the box.
The clumsy challenge prompted desperate pleas for a dismissal from the home side, but Mitchell escaped with a yellow as the game remained level.
Ahead of kick-off, Forest had conceded a goal every 42 minutes, and like clockwork, Palace had a chance to score from the spot after Joe Worrall brought down Wilfried Zaha.
Looking to celebrate his recent 30th birthday in style, Zaha stepped up, but his effort clipped the outside of the left post on its way out.
Not long after the restart, Morgan Gibbs-White had the ball in the back of the net, but an offside flag halted Forest’s celebrations. However, after a VAR review, the decision was reversed, handing the home side the lead.
The Eagles searched for a response, but almost got caught cold on the counter-attack by Lingard as the match reached its defining period.
Ultimately, Forest did enough to see out a much-needed win, extending their unbeaten head-to-head record to five PL games (W3, D2).
Meanwhile, the defeat for Palace ends a streak of eight unbeaten matches against newly-promoted PL sides, making it eight league away outings without a win from their last nine.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest)
