Barry finishes the job for Everton after Garner returns to haunt ailing Forest

Things are beginning to get a little twitchy for Nottingham Forest and Sean Dyche. Forest have made strides under Dyche but after a miserable defeat to Everton, his previous club, it is now three straight defeats and a bruising January run of fixtures are on the horizon. Five of their next six matches are away and sandwiched in between those games is a trip to West Ham, now only four points behind Forest in the table. For David Moyes and his threadbare squad, this was a triumph, goals by the former Forest loanee James Garner and Thierno Barry earning a deserved victory.

Forest submitted a complaint to Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO), the referees’ body, regarding the officiating in defeat at home to Manchester City at the weekend, the club adamant significant decisions counted against them and requested the audio between on-pitch officials that determined key moments. But Forest only had themselves to blame for a lethargic start against an Everton side that arrived without a victory or even a goal since the reverse fixture at Hill Dickinson Stadium almost four weeks ago.

That day Everton earned a 3-0 win, a Nikola Milenkovic own goal inside two minutes setting the tone, and here it did not take too much longer for them to again seize the lead. After a forgettable opening, Everton produced the first real moment of quality, Dwight McNeil, a January target for Dyche who has twice previously worked with the winger, slipping Garner in with a cute pass. Garner wriggled goal-side of Morgan Gibbs-White and tucked his shot into the far corner to open the scoring against the club where he spent 18 months on loan, clinching promotion via the Championship playoffs under Steve Cooper in 2022. Garner refused to celebrate.

Forest struggled to penetrate an organised Everton defence, with Jake O’Brien and James Tarkowski proving a meaner match for Igor Jesus than Rúben Dias and Josko Gvardiol last time out. Neco Williams, who switched from left-back to right-back to accommodate Oleksandr Zinchenko in Dyche’s sole change from the City game, caused trouble with a couple of dangerous crosses and Omari Hutchinson saw a deflected effort bobble towards Jordan Pickford after bouncing in off the flank, but they were nearly moments. Zinchenko registered Forest’s first shot on target on 44 minutes, his whipped free-kick forcing the England goalkeeper into an awkward save.

Everton seemed satisfied with the idea of stifling Forest. Jack Grealish, who missed last weekend’s stalemate at Burnley through illness, returned to an depleted bench featuring four academy youngsters and two goalkeepers. Moyes, who named only eight substitutes at Turf Moor but nine here, said Grealish remains unwell but he had little choice but to include him in his squad owing to a dearth of options.

Dyche changed things at the interval, introducing Douglas Luiz in place of Nicolás Domínguez and the substitute chalked up Forest’s second effort on target, a fierce but hopeful strike from distance. Igor Jesus poked an effort wide after being allowed a second bite at the cherry after a poor defensive clearance but frustration reigned and he was soon replaced by Taiwo Awoniyi, a like-for-like swap in attack. Douglas Luiz was booked for tugging at the shirt of Tim Iroegbunam. Gibbs-White sent a header wide from another inviting Williams cross from the right.

Grealish would arrive from the bench but it was Garner, by some distance the best player on the pitch, who fashioned another rare opening. Moyes covered his face with his hands after Tarkowski failed to make contact at the back post with Garner’s pacy cross. A few minutes later Forest created a golden chance to equalise but Awoniyi was too laboured and Dilane Bakwa too slow to convert Williams’s squared pass. Bakwa flashed a shot wide with a couple of minutes of regular time to play but by then Everton had punished Forest, Barry doubling their advantage on 79 minutes.