Fulham continued their strong recent run against Nottingham Forest with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Craven Cottage, making it six wins from their last seven Premier League meetings with the Tricky Trees and ending a run of back-to-back home league defeats, Softfootball reports
Marco Silva’s side came into the game eager to respond after their midweek Carabao Cup quarter-final loss to Newcastle, and they also carried confidence from a thrilling 3-2 league win away at Burnley last time out. Still, it was Forest who almost struck first, with Igor Jesus wasting a golden chance inside the opening 10 minutes by sweeping over from close range.
The Brazilian forward was then gifted another opportunity after a loose Antonee Robinson pass fell kindly to him, only for Jorge Cuenca to produce a crucial last-ditch block.
What followed was a scrappy, stop-start contest that rarely caught fire. Fulham struggled to impose themselves, and their best opening of the half saw Raúl Jiménez turn Robinson’s cross into the side netting. Just as the game seemed set to drift into a goalless break, Fulham were handed a lifeline in stoppage time when Douglas Luiz clumsily caught Kevin inside the box.
Jiménez made no mistake from the spot, calmly sending John Victor the wrong way to give the hosts a precious half-time lead and maintain his perfect Premier League penalty record.
Forest emerged with more intent after the interval, clearly fired up, but their problems in the final third remained. Despite enjoying spells of possession and making multiple changes, Sean Dyche’s side struggled to test Bernd Leno or carve out any clear openings. Fulham, meanwhile, looked comfortable protecting their narrow advantage.
The hosts should have wrapped things up late on when Kenny Tete surged down the right and delivered a pinpoint cross for Jiménez, but the striker glanced his header wide from close range. Forest threw on Arnaud Kalimuendo in a last-gasp attempt to salvage something, yet even extended stoppage time couldn’t change the outcome.
After the game ended, Fulham shared via its official X handle, the players reaction to the huge win tonight at home, Fulham now sit 13th on the table with 23 points, 6 points off a top 4 position. They posted:
The win lifts Fulham toward the edge of the top half and keeps European hopes alive for a side that was recently glancing nervously over their shoulders. For Forest, who arrived in west London boosted by a 2-1 Europa League win over Utrecht, it was a frustrating afternoon that highlighted familiar attacking shortcomings.
