Wood double beats Leicester and lifts Forest into Premier League top five

LEICESTER, England (AP) — When Chris Wood scores Nottingham Forest don’t lose.

The big New Zealander proved it again on Friday as he scored twice in a 3-1 win over Midlands rival Leicester in the English Premier League.

Wood’s second-half double was his sixth and seventh goals in nine games. On each occasion, Forest has won or drawn.

“It’s all down to the team," a modest Wood said. "They supply me with a lot of chances. I’m not one who’s going to beat four players and stick one in the top corner. I rely on the service of my teammates and they just keep delivering for me.”

Friday's win came just five days after Wood scored for Forest to beat Crystal Palace 1-0, and sent Nuno Espirito Santos’ buoyant team from eighth place to fifth.

Leicester was 14th.

Ryan Yates put Forest ahead with a lovely strike after 16 minutes. The Leicester defense failed to clear its lines and the scuffed clearance fell to the feet of Yates, who drove a low shot into the bottom corner from 25 meters out.

Leicester talisman Jamie Vardy equalized seven minutes later when he stole in between defenders to touch in a Harry Winks cross.

A superb save from Mads Hermansen stopped Nicolás Dominguez from giving Forest the lead again two minutes later but the visitor was not to be denied as it took control of the game after the interval.

With 47 minutes gone, Wood had his back to goal and six defenders within a meter or two but they never got near as he turned and struck an unstoppable shot into the corner of the net.

His third came on the hour mark when defender Wout Faes’ weak header fell perfectly for him to nod over stranded keeper Hermansen.

Leicester boss Steve Cooper is still admired at Forest, the club he coached back into the Premier league after a 23-year absence in 2022. But he was scathing of his side's errors on Friday.

“It’s self-inflicted," he said. "We all have to take responsibility for how the game panned out.

"We made some poor mistakes for the goals. Conceding so early on in the second half was not a good thing but there was still a lot of time for the game to settle again. The third goal was just a real killer. We just lost any sort of rhythm that we had in the first half. It’s on us, and a setback after winning a few games coming into this.”

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Leicester City's Stephy Mavididi, left, and Nottingham Forest's Ryan Yates, centre, battle for the ball during the Premier League match at the King Power Stadium, in Leicester, England, Friday Oct. 25, 2024. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood, right, celebrates scoring their side's second goal of the game during the Premier League match at the King Power Stadium, in Leicester, England, Friday Oct. 25, 2024. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

CORRECTS ID TO RYAN YATES - Nottingham Forest's Ryan Yates, centre, celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the game during the Premier League match at the King Power Stadium, in Leicester, England, Friday Oct. 25, 2024. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood celebrates scoring their side's second goal of the game during the Premier League match at the King Power Stadium, in Leicester, England, Friday Oct. 25, 2024. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood celebrates scoring their side's second goal of the game during the Premier League match at the King Power Stadium, in Leicester, England, Friday Oct. 25, 2024. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

ATLANTA (AP) — An appeals court in the battleground state of Georgia declined Friday to expedite review of an appeal of a judge’s order that county election officials must vote to certify results by the deadline set in law.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled this month that “no election superintendent (or member of a board of elections and registration) may refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstance.” His ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Julie Adams a Republican member of the election board in Fulton County, which includes most of Atlanta and is a Democratic stronghold.

Adams, who had sought a declaration saying her duties as an election board member were discretionary, appealed that order Wednesday and asked the Georgia Court of Appeals to hear it on an expedited basis.

“If this appeal proceeds in the ordinary course, then this appeal will not be fully briefed (let alone decided) until long after Election Day,” her lawyers argued in a motion.

But the appeals court's decision means that McBurney's order will almost certainly remain in effect through the deadline for county officials to certify results, which this year falls on Nov. 12. A lawyer for Adams declined to comment on the appeals court decision.

Adams has asked the appeals court to weigh in on McBurney's assertion that she is required to vote in favor of certifying election results because of the deadline provided for in the law.

McBurney had also noted in his order that if Adams were to find fraud or abuse, she could file an election contest in the courts. She asked the appeals court to rule on whether that is a “sufficient and proper remedy" for her if she finds “fraud, error, mistakes, or abuse” before the deadline.

The traditionally routine administrative task of vote certification has become an arena for political disputes since then-President Donald Trump tried to overturn his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

Several swing-state Republicans, including Adams, refused to certify results earlier this year, and some have sued to keep from being forced to sign off on election results.

Appeals court in crucial Georgia won't expedite case on election certification

Appeals court in crucial Georgia won't expedite case on election certification

FILE - Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney looks through paperwork, Aug. 14, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)