Nottingham Forest beat FC Utrecht 2-1 to move within touching distance of the top eight in the Europa League.
The Reds now have two matches remaining, away in Braga and at home to Ferencvaros, with qualification for the last 16 very much alive.
Goals from Arnaud Kalimuendo and Igor Jesus ensured the victory, with a number of Forest players producing the goods out in the Netherlands.
Forest will now hope to take that winning feeling into the Premier League, with the club possibly facing being in the bottom three this weekend.
There were some top performers in Holland and one player came in for some praise on the live coverage of the match.
Darren Fletcher hails Ibrahim Sangare during Forest win
The Forest-supporting TNT Sports commentator was on hand to summarise the game from the gantry for this one.
He is often on the pulse with Forest stuff and after the Reds started to gain a foothold in the game, Fletcher praised one player after Kalimuendo fired the team in front.
⭐The Man of the Match for Nottingham Forest vs FC Utrecht
Let us know in the comments below…👇
Ibrahim Sangare was the player who got the praise and he believed that his introduction from the bench at half-time changed the game in Forest’s favour.
He said live on air: “I think it’s fair to say that Sangare coming on has changed the game for Forest. He’s got his foot on the ball, and he just has that presence in midfield that has really benefitted them in this second half.”
Ibrahim Sangare stats vs FC Utrecht
The Ivorian is heading off to the African Cup of Nations soon, and it’s come at the worst possible time with Sangare showcasing the best Forest form he’s ever produced.
Still, it’s been great to see Sangare turn a corner and his performance in the second half was absolutely excellent for the Reds.
😮The stunning Ibrahim Sangare statistics from Nottingham Forest win over FC Utrecht
How would you score Sangare out of 10?
A solid display from the Ivorian, who was introduced at half-time:
- Minutes: 45
- Touches: 43
- Pass Accuracy: 94.1%
- Tackles: 2
- Clearances: 3
- Ground Duels Won: 3
Given the sizeable outlay to bring him to the City Ground, it’s fair to say that more was expected of him and he has been a relatively slow burner at the club.
However, Forest have a real midfield powerhouse in Sangare and maybe now people are starting to open their eyes to the sort of player that he is, focusing on what he does well rather than what he can’t do.
Sangare has been heavily criticised in the past but here he offered another reminder of just how hard he’s going to be to replace when he heads off to the AFCON.
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