Coach Nuno Espirito Santo and his players can be jubilant. This Sunday, Nottingham Forest recorded another victory on Everton’s pitch, during the 19th day of the Premier League (0-2). This success propels the team into second position, just behind Liverpool and temporarily ahead of big names Arsenal and Chelsea.
Faced with a struggling Toffees team, Forest took the advantage thanks to a brilliant collective inspiration. A quarter of an hour into the game, Morgan Gibbs-White launched Chris Wood deep. The New Zealander headed back for Anthony Elanga, who spontaneously headed it back with a touch. While Jordan Pickford came out of his cage to block the angle, Wood managed a lob full of touch to open the scoring (1-0, 15th).
Shortly after the hour mark, captain Morgan Gibbs-White took advantage of a restart error from Everton to finish straight into the opponent’s top corner (2-0, 61st). Proof of Nottingham’s consistency, the team already has five points more than its total posted last season, when it finished in 17th place.
The dynamic is completely different this year. While Forest had been fined 900,000 euros at the start of the season for strong criticism of VAR – the case concerned a defeat suffered against… Everton, in April 2024 – this penalty now appears to be anecdotal, in view of the club’s latest performances.
It is impossible to know if 2025 will be as auspicious, but the main thing is almost certain: a third appearance in a row since the return to the elite, in 2022-2023. Hoping for better…
