Nottingham Forest tasted defeat for the second time in three Premier League games after Fulham ran out 2-1 winners at Craven Cottage to end a pretty tiring week for the Reds.
Nuno Espirito Santo opted to go with the same set of players who thrashed Brighton 7-0 last time out in the top-flight, with three central defenders deployed and Callum Hudson-Odoi returning to the bench.
Emile Smith Rowe opened the scoring, heading home after a brilliant cross from Adama Traore. However, Forest responded pretty well and were level with eight minutes to go until half-time when Chris Wood scored his 18th goal of the campaign.
Some defensive frailties reared their head, however, and Forest were behind with 25 minutes left to play. Danilo allowed Raul Jimenez to flick on from a corner and Calvin Bassey looped an unstoppable header beyond Matz Sels in the Forest goal.
It’s now very much a case of going back to the drawing board from a Forest perspective. The Reds face Newcastle, Arsenal and Manchester City in the Premier League and it’s time for the team to roll up their sleeves at this point.
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Nicolas Dominguez admits frustration with Nuno Espirito Santo after Forest defeat
It was a frustrating afternoon for Dominguez at Craven Cottage. After not earning start against Exeter in the FA Cup, the Argentine once again had to settle for a place among the substitutes in Espirito Santo’s team.
Unlike the trip to St James’ Park, however, Dominguez remained unused yesterday, with Ibrahim Sangare, Hudson-Odoi and Jota Silva the only three replacements who managed to get onto the pitch with Forest chasing the game.
Dominguez – an £8 million signing from Bologna in the summer of 2023 – posted on social media after the game, a picture of himself with Ramon Sosa alongside the words which translated to ‘Warming the seat’ and also tagged the Paraguayan international in.
Clearly, the 26-year-old was fuming with Espirito Santo’s decision. Dominguez is so often the fall guy and after a tiring week perhaps he knew this was disrespectful to his head coach and deleted the post shortly afterwards.
Dominguez seems certain to leave Forest this summer
It’s very strange that Dominguez always appears to be the player who drops out. Since Espirito Santo came to the club he’s rarely been viewed as a regular in the team and is often the first to drop out when other players are available.
With Danilo starting and Sangare coming off the bench yesterday, Dominguez must now be left to ponder when he will next receive some minutes in the current Forest team.
The Argentine has let nobody down when it comes to starting games with Forest. As a result, it’s hard to imagine him still being at Forest when the opening game kicks off for the 2025/26 campaign with other clubs likely to queue up to take him.
It’s a real shame that Dominguez doesn’t appear to be fancied by Espirito Santo. He has all of the tenacity that Ryan Yates possesses, whilst he’s also got the ball-playing ability of someone like Danilo who also looks to be ahead of him in the pecking order.
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