The Nottingham team moved up to third place in the Premier League with a 1-0 win against Tottenham.
There are four Portuguese managers in the English Premier League, two just appointed (Vítor Pereira and Ruben Amorim, who will face each other later in the Wolverhampton-United match), and two who have become certainties, Marco Silva, who is doing his best at Fulham (recently winning 1-2 against Chelsea), and Nuno Espírito Santo (NES), who is proving to be the big surprise of the season, bringing Nottingham Forest back to a taste of their glory days.
With NES at the helm, the club, which has been champions of Europe (twice) more often than it has been champions of England (once), is consolidating its position among the Premier League's top teams. This Boxing Day, they triumphed at home against Tottenham with a 1-0 victory, moving up to third place with 34 points, overtaking Arsenal (33), who host Ipswich this Friday. Regardless of whether they finish 3rd or 4th at the end of matchday 18, this is already Forest's best season in 30 years.
Read more:
Chelsea Undergo Historic and Incredible Comeback on Boxing Day
Against a chaotic Tottenham, capable of panache and errors, the Nottingham team sealed their victory already in the 28th minute, thanks to a goal from Elanga following a pass from Gibbs-White. The NES squad (together with the former Vimaranense player Jota Silva, who took over in the second half) is experiencing its best phase of the season, with four consecutive victories, the last defeat dating back to the one against Manchester City (that was the only Guardiola's victory in the last 13 games).
After several seasons in charge of Wolverhampton and an unfortunate experience at Tottenham that led to an exile in Saudi Arabia, the Portuguese manager returned to English football to take the reins of Forest mid-season, consolidating his work in this season, showing high-level performances.
This position brings to mind the times when Forest had one of the greatest managers in English football, Brian Clough, with whom they won the championship in 1978, following that success with two European Cup victories (1979 and 1980). Since then, they have never reached those heights again, spending more time in the second division than in the Premier League – the last time they finished in the top 3 of the top flight was in 1995, behind champions Blackburn Rovers and Manchester United.
NES was not the only Portuguese manager to shine on Boxing Day. At Stamford Bridge, Marco Silva and his Fulham defeated Chelsea 1-2. In a 100% London match, the 'blues' took the lead as early as the 18th minute with a goal from Cole Palmer, but Fulham equalized in the 82nd minute through Harry Wilson, before completing the overtaking during the half injury time with a goal from Rodrigo Muniz.
With this victory, Marco Silva's team moved up to 8th place, now with 28 points, tied with Manchester City, while Chelsea remains in second place with 35 points, four points behind Liverpool (39), who has two games less.
