Canât beat Captainâs log on a morning can ya ?Night, night all... sleep tight and don't let the bed-bugs bite
Tuesday 2nd April 2024: Nottingham Forest v Fulham (Premier League; Kick Off 19:30):
Why canât we play with such passion and skill every time we play? And why canât Nuno pick that starting XI to start every game, because we were well balanced and threatening for much of the 90 minutes?
We started at pace and Hudson-Doi, MGW and Elanga were simply too much for Fulhamâs defence to cope with. On 9 minutes MGW set CHO free on the left side of the box. I thought that the chance was to go begging as CHO checked inside his defender rather than trying a left foot shot. However, the jink opened up the path to goal, and CHO curled a low shot past the flailing dive of Leno, and into the far bottom corner. Chances fell then to CHO, to Wood and to Elanga, but good stops by the Fulham keeper and the ball flashing past the outside of the post saw Forest denied.
Fulham were well and truly rattled though, and a flowing move starting with Murillo, on to MGW and then Danilo saw Chris Wood hit a vicious drive from 25 yards leaving Leno stranded. Flat footed, the net bulging: 2-0 and only 20 minutes played.
Forest were rampant and on 30 minutes Marco Silva threw on 3 substitutes to replace The worst performers from his starting XI. While this steadied the ship for Fulham, it was only temporary respite. MGW was playing his finest and he capped the first half performance with a 3rd Forest goal, a sweet strike into the bottom corner following some simply breathtaking play by Murillo, Danilo and MG himself.
Half time and Forest 3-0 up.
Everyone around me expected something of a response by Fulham as the 2nd half kicked off. For 4 minutes they pushed Forest deep into our own box, and from a corner they pulled a goal back â yet again our weakness at defending a set piece being our Achilles Heel. Contrary to previous experiences this season, Forest did not let this set-back worry them. True, Fulham had wrested the initiative, and the second half was not a repeat of the first. Sels made a couple of excellent reflex saves to deny the opposition, and the bar and post came to our rescue on 2 occasions, but they were after Neco Williams had seen his curling shot from 18 yards out deflected onto the Fulham cross-bar. Origi, on for Hudson-Odoi hit a rasping, rising shot that flashed inches over the cross bar, and in injury time he was in acres of space but his low shot curled agonisingly wide of the far post. The lad really needs a goal to give him a confidence boost!
The final whistle came and the Forest fans who had been loud and proud all match raised the roof in salute of the lads who played their hearts out and secured a much needed 3 points. Pre-match Forza Garibaldi mounted a colourful Trent End display, and it was fitting that the main banner was a picture of MGW, who served up his best performance of the season, and was rewarded with my MOTM award, after a thrilling game where the combined team effort was at the root of our success. That, plus some audacious individual skills from MG, from Danilo, from Murillo, from Aina, from Wood and really from every man who took to the field.
Player Ratings:
Sels: 7 â some vital saves to keep us in it after Fulham scored their only goal early in the 2nd half;
Williams: 7 â played himself into the ground by the end, and was desperately unlucky to see his goal-bound shot get a slight deflection that made it smash against the face of the cross-bar;
Omobamidele: 7 â kept his head, and timed his tackles well to avoid silly fouls and worse;
Murillo: 7 â he and Omo look to be a decent central back partnership, despite not having the height of some of tonightâs opponents;
Aina: 7 â teased and tantalised down Forestâs left wing, but still managed to acquit himself defensively;
Danilo: 7 â some lovely skill, and 100% effort throughout;
Yates: 6 â not one of Ryanâs better games, but he captained the side with authority;
Hudson-Odoi: 8 â took his goal brilliantly and teased his full-back constantly;
Gibbs-White: 10 â what a privilege to witness a full 10 out of 10 performance⌠possibly even 11 ;
Elanga: 7 â so pleased to see Elanga starting again, and playing an important role in setting up attacks, and nearly scoring;
Wood: 7 â he doesnât score many from outside the box, so tonightâs long distance strike was a bit of a collectorâs item!.
Substitutions:
Origi (on for CHO): 7 â lovely first touch, and fights hard but boy does he need a goal to restore his confidence;
Reyna (on for MGO): 7 â improving with more game time;
Toffolo (on for Aina): 7 â as Aina tired, and Traore started to cause some problems, Toffo was brought on and put a stop to Traoreâs trickery;
Dominguez (on for Elanga): 7 â with Fulham dominating the 2nd hald for long periods, Nick was brought on to add a bit more bite to midfield.
Conclusion: a superb win tonight that does ease some of our relegation worries â letâs hope Arsenal win against Luton tomorrow. If we can sneak at least a point at White Hart Lane on Sunday, It will have been a decent return for the first week of April. Nuno went with the right starting XI, and his substitutions were well made.
And for the Foodies out there, tonight a return to the Bridgford fish Bar, but I rang the changes with a battered sausage and chips.
They did check it, they can the while the game continues. The commentary confirmed this. They don't have to stop the game. I, for one, would prefer more VAR cheks to happen this way.
I thought he was OK. Let the game flow for both sides, which helped us in the first half, imho from the comfort on my Telly.
For me he was as bad as they all are - started ok and went downhill from there.
VAR do check all possible pens. The commentators are plugged into the feed and confirm when the check is complete. That Nico one was a tickle under the boot at most, nowt really worth checking.
No, from the replays looked like no contact and Williams 50/50 whether he was already tumbling or was diving.
Well it had me convinced - I'll have a watch later...
Neco dived, he tried to do what Anthony Gordon did, but there was no contact.
Ah ok I stand corrected!
That is not correct, there WAS contact, clear to see in the replays if you focus on the ball and both feet. Not sure about dive.
Same - he can do that. Not very many CDMs have his deftness and ability to lay on like that. Such a talent.