Nottingham Forest piled the misery on former boss Mark Warburton as the Reds beat 10-man QPR 4-0 at the Kiyen Prince Foundation Stadium.
Sabri Lamouchi’s men secured the victory thanks to goals from Tobias Figueiredo, Lewis Grabban, Joao Carvalho and Alfa Semedo.
Centre-back Figueiredo opened the scoring in the 14th minute, rising highest to head into an empty net.
The challenge was made more difficult for QPR when Lee Wallace was dismissed after pulling back Joe Lolley as he raced through on goal just after half-time.
Despite a numerical advantage, the Reds were forced to wait until the last ten minutes to round off proceedings with Grabban, Carvalho and then Semedo cranking up the pressure on Warburton.
One man who really shone to the fore was Tiago Silva.
The little maestro was dropped deeper in the absence of Ryan Yates who was suspended and didn’t disappoint.
He showcased guile, determination and superb intelligence both in and out of possession.
It has taken Silva some time to really get going at the City Ground but in the last month, he has looked class.
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In truth, Ben Watson alongside him was also immense during the encounter but Silva just ran the show.
At times it seemed as though nothing was on yet a moment of magic later and Forest were once again on the counter.
Progression
The Championship is a tough league and some supporters questioned how the club’s foreign signings would perform once the clocks had changed.
People had no need to worry about Silva.
If anything he has raised his game heading into the winter of 2019 and after signing for a small fee from Feirense, he now looks like a really shrewd signing.
Forest will hope he continues in his current rich vein of form. With games coming thick and fast the Reds need their better players fresh and firing.
Silva highlighted his versatility too against QPR and that could come in handy as the season progresses.
It was a stunning team performance on a cold night in the capital but rightly Silva will take the lion share of the plaudits from a quality night for Forest.
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