£13.3m Nottingham Forest star outperformed Murillo in two key areas during Newcastle defeat

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The bubble burst for Nottingham Forest as Newcastle United left the City Ground with all three points on Sunday.

Forest held the lead when Murillo delighted Nuno Espirito Santo by heading the Reds in front.

The Reds looked jaded and short of ideas in the second half, however, as Newcastle upped the ante and left with three points.

Anthony Taylor – so often the nemesis of Forest – was the referee for yesterday’s clash and the finger couldn’t even be pointed at him.

Some supporters wanted to bemoan the performance of Taylor but ultimately he made decisions that impacted both teams equally.

Despite defeat at the City Ground, it’s still been a positive start for Forest who have 19 points from 11 games played so far.

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Nottingham Forest star outperforms Murillo vs Newcastle

For Murillo, the game will always be one to remember given that he scored his first goal in professional football.

Espirito Santo raved about Murillo after the game with the Forest head coach keen for the squad to share the goal burden.

Although he scored, Forest did have another defender who outperformed Murillo when it came to defensive duties yesterday.

Alex Moreno playing for Forest has been a long time coming but in the summer the club finally got their man.

In the summer of 2022, Forest were rejected by Moreno before he signed for Aston Villa six months later for £13.3 million.

It’s no wonder that Forest chose to sign him in the summer with the 31-year-old now playing some great stuff.

Yesterday, The Other 14 showed that Moreno made a combined total of seven tackles and interceptions.

That was the most of any Forest player, with Murillo in second place with a total of five to his name.

Forest must try for permanent Moreno signing

The Spanish performer has fallen way down the pecking order at Villa Park and naturally, a permanent exit could be on the cards.

Lucas Digne and Ian Maatsen are the two left-backs in Unai Emery’s squad and football wouldn’t have been forthcoming for Moreno.

At 31, it’s important that the left-back is getting games and Forest can offer him that run that he needs at the moment.

He’s clearly enjoying his football just now and hopefully something can be agreed between the two clubs.

It doesn’t feel likely that it will take a big fee for Forest to sign Moreno and it would be great to think that the club can land him permanently in the future.