Nottingham Forest travelled to Everton in their last Premier League fixture of 2024, with Nuno Espirito Santo’s side looking to go into the new year in the top four.
Espirito Santo’s side have had a strong festive period, picking up maximum points in their two games over Christmas. Forest beat Brentford on the 21st December, which was followed up by Forest’s 1-0 win over Tottenham.
Ryan Yates was suspended after Tottenham due to picking up a fifth yellow card, leaving the Forest manager with a dilemma ahead of the Everton clash that was made even worse when Murillo was injured in the warm-up.
However, this setback clearly didn’t impact the Forest squad as they took an early lead. Morgan Gibbs-White found Chris Wood, who combined with Anthony Elanga before deftly chipping over Jordan Pickford.
The second half saw a trademark Forest counterattack seal the three points for Forest, with Wood finding Gibbs-White who finished expertly past Pickford.
Matz Sels – 7
Another clean sheet for the Belgian but he had very little to do with it, with Everton firing their best chances wide of his goal.
Ola Aina – 7
Aina had the task of defending against Everton’s brightest attacking talent in Iliman Ndiaye but held his own, winning all of his attempted tackles.
Morato – 8
After Murillo’s injury, Espirito Santo reverted back to a back four, which put extra pressure on Morato’s performance. The Brazilian was excellent, though, producing a remarkable seven headed clearances in the first half alone.
Nikola Milenkovic – 7
Perhaps as a result of the late change, the Everton strikers targetted Morato more which gave Milenkovic a quieter afternoon than his partner. He was as strong as ever in the second half though as the hosts put on numerous attackers to try and force their way back into the game.
Neco Williams – 8
The Welshman’s form at left back continued as he didn’t put a foot wrong up against Jack Harrison, dominating both on the ground and aerially.
Elliot Anderson – 7
Anderson played a more conservative role for Forest with Yates suspended and managed to control the centre of the park well without having the opportunity to show his worth further up the pitch.
Nicolas Dominguez – 7
Dominguez replaced Yates and performed admirably in the midfield against a battling Everton midfield. He won a fair share of duels whilst maintaining a respectable passing accuracy.
Ramon Sosa – 7
Sosa was handed his first start against Everton as a result of Murillo’s injury in the warm-up but struggled to impact the match until the final minutes of the half, where he dragged a brilliant chance wide with only Pickford to beat. His energy helped Forest press well, though.
Morgan Gibbs-White – 9
Gibbs-White had a quiet first half by his standards but played a decisive ball up to Wood in the buildup to the opening goal. He then got the all-important goal after chopping inside beautifully to fire into the top corner.
Anthony Elanga – 8
Yet another goal involvement for Elanga in what has been a much-needed run of good form over Christmas. He kept close to Wood and combined well to assist the opening goal before winning the ball back for Forest for the second goal.
Chris Wood – 10
After three games without a goal, Wood more than made up for it with a brilliant opener for Forest. He then showed composure to pick out Gibbs-White for the second goal.
Substitutes
Willy Boly – 7
Brought on in response to Everton’s attacking switches, Boly was a commanding presence as The Toffees put cross after cross into the box.
Jota Silva – 6
The Portuguese winger didn’t get the chance to impact the game as he would’ve liked but did produce one or two positive runs as Forest saw the game out well.
Taiwo Awoniyi – 6
Battled well up front after replacing Wood but didn’t get the chance to influence the game from an attacking perspective.
Harry Toffolo – 7
With Everton attacking the wide areas and looking for crosses, Toffolo had to be at his best to help Forest keep the clean sheet which he certainly was.
James Ward-Prowse – 6
Everton’s direct approach in the final minutes meant Forest’s midfield was completely bypassed, giving Ward-Prowse little chance to get involved.
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