Fulham 2-1 Nottingham Forest: Calvin Bassey’s second-half header condemns high-flying Forest to second Premier League loss in three video games
- Chris Wood and Emile Smith Rowe traded strikes in an enthralling first-half
- Bassey headed in from Raul Jimenez’s corner to seal the points for Fulham
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For a club whose European prospects seem limited to the Conference League, Fulham are doing a sterling job of tripping up those with bigger plans.
Having already taken points from Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Newcastle, they moved to a perfect six from six against Nottingham Forest here. To do it was once was impressive; to pull it off twice proves the first was no fluke.
That much was told in the tale of the match. It was no smash and grab and nor was it an accident – this was a meticulous and clever nullification of the season’s prime bolter.
While Nuno Espirito Santo has been an unsolvable riddle for many in this campaign, Marco Silva had answers for everything. When Nuno set out with five at the back, Fulham killed them on the flanks. When Forest pivoted to a four, Silva crushed them with a higher press, proving repeatedly that a great counter-attacking side will only be as strong as the mistakes they have to pounce on.
Put simply, Fulham made almost none.
Their most eye-catching component was Adama Traore. He was superb, a ball of excessive muscle and limitless pace, which shredded Neco Williams over and again. The Forest left back started the game in a protective mask and departed in need of a long lie down.
Emile Smith Rowe latched onto a wonderful cross from Adama Traore to open the scoring for Fulham against Nottingham Forest
Chris Wood tucked in to equalise with his 18th league goal of the season for the visitors
It was Traore who put the opener on a plate for Emile Smith Rowe and Calvin Bassey got the second after Chris Wood had levelled with his 18th goal of the season. If the scoreline was close, the patterns of play would be better illustrated by other statistics, namely that Fulham out-shot Forest by 24 to eight. With some luck, Raul Jimenez might have had a hat-trick.
Silva said: ‘It was great performance from the first minute to the last. We controlled the game and we were the best team on the pitch. They wait for mistakes to punish you but our reaction whenever we lost the ball was top level. We were dominant.
‘It is a game we should have scored more goals from the chances we created.’
All of that would be hard to dispute. Forest remain in the top three, but this loss will look rotten on paper, especially with Newcastle, Arsenal and Manchester City as their next three league assignments.
‘There are so many things I would do differently now,’ Nuno said. ‘Now it is about looking at the game and preparing for the next one.’
Nuno had sensibly factored on using the same XI that demolished Brighton 7-0 and Fulham were also unchanged from the side which beat Newcastle. Neither man will have been thrilled by the first 10 minutes, which was drab, but then Traore began his assault on Williams. Right winger versus left back, it was a sustained kicking.
Across the first half-hour alone, those acts of bullying were good for three Fulham chances. The first and third followed the pattern of Traore twitching his way around Williams and picking his spot with crosses for Jimenez.
The headers caused only moderate difficulty for Matz Sels, but the delivery in between, an in-swinger off Traore’s left foot after throwing Williams off-balance, was so precise it was worth more than a standard assist. The ball dropped into a tiny pocket of space behind Morato at the far post and Smith Rowe headed for 1-0.
Calvin Bassey’s 62nd minute header proved the difference, sealing victory for the hosts
Europe-chasing Forest have now lost two of their last three fixtures in the Premier League
Jimenez missed a couple of chances for a second before the sucker-punch of Forest’s equaliser. Wood, isolated all afternoon, bent a superb finish around Bernd Leno, but had benefitted from the kindest of bounces when Morgan Gibbs-White’s clipped ball over the top cannoned cannoned off the back of his right leg. Instead of rolling off to some safe place, it stopped dead and invited the strike.
On such moments a game can turn. This one did not.
Instead, Fulham continued to accumulate minor chances before Bassey scored for 2-1.
The routine was an oldie but goldie – Sasas Lukic played to the near post, Jimenez flicked across goal and Wood failed to pick up Bassey’s run on his blindside. Sels couldn’t get near the header, which just about summed up the dynamic between Fulham and Forest all afternoon.
