Nottingham Forest put in arguably their best performance of the season as they battered Queens Park Rangers in a thumping 3-1 victory at The City Ground.
Alex Mighten opened the scoring before half-time after Sammy Ameobi squared it to him inside the six-yard box and Forest didn’t let up.
After a host of chances, Forest finally doubled their lead when Lewis Grabban curled in a screamer from outside the box midway through the second half.
James Garner then got his second goal in two games as his free kick flew straight over QPR stopper Sent Dieng’s head.
However, the Reds were denied a clean sheet as Lyndon Dykes scored with the last kick of the game following some outstanding wing play from ex Forest man Albert Adomah.
Following a rampant Forest display, here are four things that we learnt…
Jekyll & Hyde again from Ameobi
It’ll never cease to amaze Forest fans just how inconsistent Sammy Ameobi is during games for the club, with his QPR showing a fine example.
At one point when the Reds were on top early doors, Ameobi cut in from the left and to say his effort was wild would be an understatement, as it flew about 50 metres high and almost went out for a throw in.
However, just before half-time, he showed his class as he expertly shrugged Yoann Barbet aside before putting it on a plate for Mighten.
Getting consistency out of Ameobi will forever prove difficult, but when he is on his game, you certainly know about it.
Filip Krovinovic ran the show
Understandably so after such a strong showing, there will be a lot of praise for everyone, but one person who really deserves it is Krovinovic.
The on loan Benfica man seemed to be everywhere and a part of everything, with some neat passes, strong tackling, great running and some tasty shots as well.
The only criticism of Krovinovic is his numbers are quite low considering he’s playing in the 10 role, but he’s so important to how Forest play.
It’ll be interesting to see whether Chris Hughton looks to sign him in the summer on a permanent deal, as he’s certainly a great fit for the side.
Grabban back in the goals
Lewis Grabban must’ve been thinking his luck was never going to change after he fluffed a half chance in the first half – the type of opportunity he was working the keeper with as a minimum last year.
With the ball being cut back to him in the box, Grabban sort of directed it well away from goal on his left, with fans fearing that their captain is maybe over the hill.
However, Grabban did get back on the scoresheet with a sublime goal, after he took a pass on the turn outside the box and then whipped it into the top left hand corner.
It was his first goal at The City Ground since December and just his fourth all season, but hopefully it’ll provide a huge lift for the forward.
On form and fully fit, Grabban is just as good as any Championship striker and Hughton will hoping he scores a few more between now and the end of the season.
Reds unorthodoxly clinical
While the scoreline does show that Forest bagged three goals, they really should’ve had a lot more.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they could’ve had five or six, such was the quality of chances they missed.
Some were unlucky – Ryan Yates having a header cleared off the line – but others made you wonder what was going on.
It was typical then that two outside the box efforts from Grabban and Garner found the net, but Forest do need to work on being more ruthless.
Are Nottingham Forest now safe from relegation following this win over Queens Park Rangers?