The biggest crowd in a decade had packed into the City Ground, filled with hope and optimism.
The 30,139 attendance figure would have been even bigger had the new corner stand, forged out of shipping containers, been ready as hoped. The club expect those new executive suites to be completed in time for Crystal Palace’s visit on October 21.
Like their stadium, Nottingham Forest remain a work in progress.
An unbeaten start to the campaign — and Fulham’s failure to sell their quota of tickets — meant that the City Ground’s capacity was raised slightly, leading to the biggest attendance since September 2014 when 30,227 watched a 1-1 draw with rivals Derby County.
An unexpected but deserved 1-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield and a credible 2-2 draw at Brighton & Hove Albion — taking Forest’s unbeaten start to five Premier League games — had raised expectations to levels not seen since Forest’s return to the top flight in 2022.
Forest fans have been daring to look upwards, rather than over their shoulders, following two seasons of struggle against relegation. Even Nuno Espirito Santo, Forest’s reserved head coach, had been more cheerful and open with the media.
He had demonstrated his tactical acumen in consecutive away games through his starting XI and use of substitutes. Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi had come off the bench to combine for the vital goal against Liverpool, and Jota Silva and Ramon Sosa had done the same on the south coast.
Against Fulham, Nuno’s challenge was to fill the void left by the controversial dismissal of Morgan Gibbs-White, who was shown a second yellow card for a challenge on Brighton’s Joao Pedro that the league’s key match incidents panel subsequently voted, by 3-2, was undeserved.
The pace and energy provided on the counterattack by Gibbs-White, Elanga and Hudson-Odoi had frequently been at the heart of Forest’s attacking threat this season. So it felt surprising — admittedly armed with a large dollop of hindsight — that his response to being without Gibbs-White was to leave Elanga and Hudson-Odoi on the bench as well.
Nuno opted for an old-school 4-4-2 formation, with Elliot Anderson and Nico Dominguez playing in the wider roles and Taiwo Awoniyi and Chris Wood up front.
Again, as it had been at Liverpool and Brighton, the intention was to prevent a slick Fulham side from passing through them. Given that Nuno’s planning had previously been more than effective, he had (and should still have) plenty of credit in the bank.
In the first half, it worked — to a degree. Forest had been marginally the better side after an uneventful 45 minutes but goalscoring opportunities were in short supply. Awoniyi came close with a spectacular overhead kick and Wood was offside after forcing the ball home.
Forest will point to how the game’s decisive moment again came via a refereeing controversy. Fulham were awarded a penalty after the VAR checked Murillo’s challenge on Andreas Pereira and asked the on-pitch referee, Josh Smith, to view the footage himself. Raul Jimenez converted from the spot in the 51st minute.
What annoyed the Forest hierarchy — and the message was sent down to the media room after the game that the owners were very angry — was the perceived inconsistency when a penalty was not awarded after Calvin Bassey brought down Elanga.
They started the game without any recognised wingers but, by the 57th minute, Forest had three on the pitch, with Elanga, Hudson-Odoi and Jota all having been introduced. By the 75th minute, they had four, with Sosa added to the mix as they adopted an attacking 4-1-4-1 formation.
Going from one extreme to the other did not have the desired effect, with Fulham denying Forest more than a glimpse of goal. Forest’s expected goals (xG) total was 0.8, the lowest they have registered in a home game since the 2-1 defeat to Arsenal (0.5 xG) in January, early in Nuno’s tenure.
Of the 11 shots Forest had, only one was on target — a long-range effort from Jota, which was also the only time Bernd Leno was forced into a meaningful save.
It was a below-par performance and it was not lost on Nuno that, while they have collected seven points from three away games, they have secured only two from their three games at the City Ground, following 1-1 draws with Bournemouth and Wolverhampton Wanderers. He admitted it is a “frustrating” situation.
But it still should not be enough for the bubble of positivity to be deflated. It has been a positive start to the campaign for Forest and their head coach as he looks to bed in another flurry of new additions. They remain in the top half of the table.
Another major conclusion to be drawn from a difficult afternoon was just how valuable Gibbs-White is. Since he joined from Wolves for an initial £25million ($33.4m at current rates) two years ago, he has only failed to start six of Forest league games — they have not won any of them, drawing two and losing four.
In the 74 games he has started, Forest’s win percentage has been 25.7 per cent. Forest have won 19, drawn 21 and lost 34 with Gibbs-White in the side. Their xG with him in the team has been 1.2. Without him, it drops to 0.8.
The Athletic’s data experts would remind us that the sample size is too small to draw any serious conclusions but this was a day when Forest had to find a way to cope without their talisman — and ultimately failed to do so.
Next weekend, they travel to face a Chelsea side with an explosively talented talisman of their own, Cole Palmer, who scored four goals against Brighton on Saturday.
Nuno will unquestionably have to conjure up another astute tactical plan if Forest are to quell his threat and sustain their five-match unbeaten run away from home.
(Top photo: Michael Regan via Getty Images)
