Nottingham Forest were beaten 2-1 by Fulham at Craven Cottage but remain in third place in the Premier League table with 13 games no remaining of the 2024/25 campaign.
Forest fell behind after Adama Traore teed up Emile Smith Rowe to score the easiest goal that he’s likely to score in his career, losing Morato and planting a header beyond Matz Sels.
The Reds rallied, however, and were level eight minutes before the break. A ball forward from Morgan Gibbs-White found Chris Wood who composed himself and stroked an 18th goal of the season into the back of Bernd Leno’s net.
Forest couldn’t hold on though and the second half went in similar fashion to the first 45 minutes. Fulham kept on top and with half an hour remaining, Calvin Bassey was found with the freedom of West London to score what proved to be the winning goal.
Although there is no need to panic, some players need to take a long hard look at themselves and return to action next week with a point to prove against Newcastle United.
- READ MORE: Nottingham Forest player ratings vs Fulham
Danilo endures tough afternoon vs Fulham
It was great to see the Brazilian back on a football pitch from the start last time out in the Premier League against Brighton. He also got more minutes in midweek as Forest knocked Exeter out of the FA Cup.
Danilo was handed another start against Fulham and after beating Brighton last time out it was no surprise. However, this proved a game too far at the end of a very long week for the youngster.
The player signed for £16 million from Palmeiras looked a little bit jaded throughout the contest. He was somewhat wasteful in possession and finished with a pass-success ratio of just 70.4%.
Danilo is clearly going to be a big performer for Forest going forward and he’s going to play his part in the final 13 matches of the campaign. However, he will now face a fight to keep his shirt for the next game against Newcastle next weekend.
Nicolas Dominguez will be knocking on Nuno Espirito Santo’s door this week
The £8 million Argentine is so often the fall guy in the Forest team. Despite playing well when called upon during the 2024/25 campaign, Dominguez just can’t seem to convince Espirito Santo that he’s worthy of a run of games.
With Danilo and Ibrahim Sangare now back in action, Dominguez must be wondering where his next minutes will come from after being an unused substitute during the game against Fulham.
Dominguez must be wondering what he has to do to keep hold of a shirt in the Forest team with his performances often consistent and seemingly perfect for the sort of football that Espirito Santo wants to play.
After this performance from Danilo, Dominguez has every right to knock on the door of the head coach this week and it remains to be seen if any changes will be in the offing next week at Newcastle.
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