Match Report
Nottingham Forest (3) 3-1 (0) Fulham
Premier League Match Day 31 23_24 at The City Ground
Tuesday 2nd April 2024, KO: 19:30
Referee:
Michael Oliver (Northumberland)
TNT Sports 2
|
Fulham tumbled to a 3-1 defeat vs Nottingham Forest at The City Ground on Tuesday evening.
A tumultuous first half saw goals from Callum Hudson-Odoi, Chris Wood & Morgan Gibbs-White give the hosts an unassailable lead heading into the break. Tosin pulled a goal back in the 49th minute but it proved no more than a consolation on a damp night in Nottingham.
Marco Silva made two changes from the side that snatched a point from the jaws of defeat in the dying stages vs Sheffield United on Saturday afternoon in South Yorkshire. Harry Wilson & Kenny Tete were brought in to replace Willian & Timothy Castagne respectively.
After a scrappy opening five minutes the hosts took the lead with a fluid counter attack. A precision pass down the left wing opened our defensive line, and after cutting inside from his wing Hudson-Odoi lashed a pinpoint effort into the far corner past Bernd Leno. Fulham punished for a lack of composure in the opening stages.
Things went from bad to worse for Fulham in the 19th minute as our uncharacteristic sloppiness persisted. A simple pass found the feet of Wood 25 yards from goal. With pressure slow to arrive the powerful striker took his time to compose himself before curling a shot into the net through a sea of bodies crowded on the edge of the box.
| Match Stats |
N Forest |
Fulham |
| Goals |
(3)3 |
1 (0) |
|
| Scorers |
Hudson-Odoi 9 |
Adarabioyo 49 |
|
Wood 19 |
- |
|
Gibbs-White 45+3 |
- |
| , |
| Goal attempts |
16 |
18 |
| On target |
4 |
3 |
| Shooting Accuracy |
25% |
17% |
| Possession |
33% |
67% |
| Passes |
320 |
621 |
| Passes Success |
78% |
57% |
| Crosses |
7 |
37 |
| Crosses Success |
29% |
32% |
| Corners |
3 |
8 |
| Tackles |
11 |
15 |
| Tackles Success |
64% |
73% |
| Saves |
2 |
1 |
| Fouls |
7 |
8 |
| Offsides |
2 |
0 |
| Yellows |
1 |
0 |
| Reds |
0 |
0 |
| source: SkySports |
Marco Silva wasted no time to change things up, making a triple substitution on the half hour mark. Tom Cairney, Willian & Adama Traore were introduced to replace Sasa Lukic, Harry Wilson & Alex Iwobi.
The changes had the desired effect and the tempo slowed. With Fulham enjoying more time in possession, the hosts dropped more men behind the ball to soak up the pressure and looked to catch us on the counter as we committed more men forward in attack.
A miserable opening 45 minutes was sealed with the last kick of the half as Gibbs-White capped off a scything attack through the heart of our midfield expertly. A ball in behind found a pocket of space for the creative midfielder and after a tidy one-two he lashed home a perfect strike into the far corner once again.
The result all but sealed before half-time.
The second half commenced with a slight glimmer of revival. A whipped corner from Andreas Pereira was glanced deftly across the face of goal and into the far corner by Tosin. With the home fans nervy, could we stage another unlikely comeback similar to the one three days previous?
The game opened up as we sensed blood but in the 65th minute we were lucky to not fall further behind. After a meandering run down the right flank Neco Williams thundered a left footed drive off the post before a flurry of Fulham chances.
Matz Sels was on hand to deny another Tosin header destined for the top corner before Kenny Tete powered a header off the bar from an excellent Pereira corner.
The frenetic pace of the game eased somewhat as the hosts looked to close out the game and secure a vital victory in the quest for survival in the Premier League.
With Fulham enjoying 66% possession and Nottingham Forest piling men behind the ball we were unable to pick the lock and the referee brought the match to a close. We will look to bounce back on Saturday as we host Newcastle United.
Fulham boss Marco Silva:
"Bad performance, disappointing evening for us, really disappointing result. When you don't start the game the way you should of course you are going to get punished.
"In the first half we didn't play, we were there but we didn't play. We weren't there, we didn't do what we planned, we were so, so slow.
"We were not aggressive, the will was not there and this is the first time since this long journey started in 2021 that this has happened.
"Football is to play from the first minute not just the second half. When I made the triple change, at that moment the team needed much more changes than three.
"Overall we were not playing, as a collective we were not there. It is important to say it wasn't the fault of the three at all. It was a tactical change."
Nottingham Forest : Sels, Williams, Omobamidele, Murillo, Aina (Toffolo 83), Yates, Danilo, Elanga (Dominguez 83), Gibbs-White (Reyna 77), Hudson-Odoi (Origi 70), Wood
Unused substitutes: Turner, Sangare, Kouyate, Niakhate Montiel
Goals:
Hudson-Odoi 9 (A fifth Premier League goal of the season for Hudson-Odoi, but all the credit must go to Gibbs-White, who executes a brilliant Cruyff turn in the middle of the park, before turning and releases Hudson-Odoi down the left - and the forward then cuts back inside in the area, before finding the bottom right corner of the net.
FPL Assist: Gibbs-White)
Wood 19 (Incredible as Forest double their lead out of nothing - the ball breaks to Wood some 25 yards out, but there appeared little danger, only for the striker to unleash an early shot that caught Leno totally flat footed and rooted to his line as the ball flies into the bottom lefthand corner.)
Gibbs-White 45+3 (Wow, another beautifully worked goal from the hosts puts this game to bed before half-time.)
Booked: Turner (64,dis),
Fulham : Leno, Tete, Adarabioyo, Bassey, Robinson, Lukic (Cairney 33), Palhinha (Reed 71), Wilson (Willian 33), Pereira (De Cordova-Reid 71), Iwobi (Traore 33), Muniz
Unused substitutes: Rodak, Jimenez, Ream, Castagne
Goals:
Adarabioyo 49 (Hello, surely not as from a second corner from the left, clipped to the near post for Tosin to outjump Gibbs-White and loop a header into the far corner.
FPL Assist: Pereira)
Referee:
Michael Oliver (Northumberland)
Attendance: 28,997
Fulham are next in action on Saturday 6th of April against Newcastle United down at The Cottage.