Nottingham Forest continue their remarkable ascent under Nuno Espírito Santo. A club that was one place above the relegation zone when Nuno took over 12 months ago now sit second in the Premier League table after a comfortable victory over Everton. The Champions League may not be a fanciful dream after all.
The outstanding duo of Chris Wood and Morgan Gibbs-White scored the goals that secured Forest’s fifth win in a row, equalling the club’s Premier League record set in April 1995. A commanding team performance also ensured that, for the first time since 1898/99, Forest have won in the league at both Everton and Liverpool. Sean Dyche’s team had gone six Premier League games unbeaten at Goodison Park prior to Forest’s visit but were a distant second-best throughout.
Nuno was forced into a late change of personnel and system when Murillo pulled up injured in the warm-up. The defender was replaced by winger Ramón Sosa, prompting a switch to a 4-4-1-1, and the disruption had no discernible impact on the Forest display. The visitors again performed with a confidence and clarity befitting their impressive league position. And Wood again provided a potent, intelligent threat.
The New Zealand international had already gone close with two attempts, heading over from an Anthony Elanga cross and shooting wide from 25 yards, before giving Forest an early lead in style. Wood’s 11th goal of the season originated from a pin-point pass down the middle from Gibbs-White. The striker cushioned a header to Elanga, who nodded the ball back to Wood inside the area and removed two Everton defenders from the equation in the process. Wood allowed the ball to bounce and Jordan Pickford to advance before lofting a delicate finish over the Everton goalkeeper and under the crossbar from 12 yards out. It was the touch of a forward at the top of his game, and a lead that was rarely troubled.
Everton had picked up valuable points and belief in draws against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City but creative they are not. Armando Broja made his first start for the club in place of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and, just like the benched centre-forward, was left to chase scraps all afternoon. Iliman Ndiaye did create a good early chance for himself when turning away from Nikola Milenkovic and Morato, only to blaze over from the edge of the area.
Jarrad Branthwaite also should have done better with a free header from Ashley Young’s corner shortly after the opening goal but failed to connect cleanly. In the main, however, Dyche’s team were short of ideas and sloppy in possession. They would have had more problems had James Tarkowski received a second yellow card in first-half stoppage time for a foul on Wood.
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Everton’s captain in the absence of the injured Seamus Coleman escaped further punishment. His team did not. Dyche introduced Jesper Lindstrøm for the struggling Jack Harrison at half-time but Forest remained sharper, solid and dangerous.
The visitors doubled their advantage when capitalising on a defensive mix-up between Tarkowski and Vitalii Mykolenko. The pair left an Abdoulaye Doucouré pass to each other just outside the Everton area. Elanga pounced on the lack of communication and found Wood in space on the left. The goalscorer added an assist to his name when picking out Gibbs-White, who cut inside Doucouré and beat Pickford with an emphatic finish. Pickford produced a triple save to prevent Sosa, Neco Williams and Sosa again from adding a third.
