Fulham 2-1 Nottingham Forest: Calvin Bassey’s second-half header condemns high-flying Forest to second Premier League loss in three games

For a club whose European prospects seem limited to the Conference League, Fulham are doing a sterling job of tripping up bigger boys with bigger plans.

Having already taken points from Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Newcastle this season, they moved to a perfect six from six against Nottingham Forest here. To do it was once was impressive; to pull it off twice proves the first was no fluke.

That much was told in the tale of this match. It was no smash and grab and it was no accident – this was a meticulous and clever nullification of the Premier League’s prime bolter.

While Nuno Espirito Santo has been an unsolvable riddle for many in this campaign, Marco Silva has his number. Those Forest counters, fast and brilliantly effective through two-thirds of the schedule, were not cancelled by a team sitting back, so much as one that charged forward with lit matches.

Fulham burned them with sheer pressure and dominance in the individual duels. The most eye-catching component of all was Adama Traore. He was superb, a ball of excessive muscle and limitless pace, which shredded Neco Williams over and again. The Forest left back started the game in a protective mask and left in need of a lie down.

It was Traore who put the opener on a plate for Emile Smith Rowe and Calvin Bassey got the second after Chris Wood had levelled with his 18th goal of the season. If the scoreline was close, the patterns of play would be better illustrated by other statistics, namely that Fulham out-shot Forest by 24 to eight. With some luck, Raul Jimenez might have had a hat-trick.

Chris Wood tucked in to equalise with his 18th league goal of the season for Nottingham Forest

Forest remain in the top three, but this loss will be a sizeable hit. The kind that looks bad on the page and possibly a decisive point if the top four ultimately gets away from them.

Nuno had sensibly factored on using the same XI that demolished Brighton, with Silva’s side also unchanged from their Newcastle win, and initially the game was pretty dire. No chances, no moves, no spark.

And then one of the teams woke up after 10 minutes, or more precisely Traore began his assault on Williams. Right winger versus left back, it was a sustained beating.

Across the first half-hour alone, those acts of bullying were good for three Fulham chances. The first and third followed the pattern of Traore twitching his way around Williams and picking his spot with crosses for Raul Jimenez.

The headers caused only moderate difficulty for Matz Sels, but the delivery in between, an inswinger off Traore’s left foot after throwing Williams off-balance, was so precise it was worth more than a standard assist. The ball dropped into a tiny pocket of space behind Morato at the far post and Smith Rowe headed for 1-0.

Forest were nowhere close to competitive at this stage. When they sought to change gear, pushing for one of those fast-twitch counters, Murillo led a breakaway only to be run down and robbed by Traore. He was all-action in all parts of the pitch.

For Fulham, it ought to have gotten better, but Jimenez would miss two further chances across the half, with the kicker that Forest rode a little luck to equalise.

That doesn’t diminish the quality of Wood’s finish – he bent a shot around Bernd Leno from the edge of the area and it was a lovely contribution to a quiet afternoon. But in the build up he was fortunate, tracing to how he benefitted from the kindest of bounces when Morgan Gibbs-White clipped a ball over the top for him to chase and it cannoned off the back of Wood’s right leg. Instead of rolling off to some safe place, it stopped dead and invited the strike.

Calvin Bassey’s 62nd minute header proved the difference, sealing victory for the hosts

Europe-chasing Forest have now lost two of their last three fixtures in the Premier League

On such moments a game can turn. This one did not.

Instead, Fulham continued to accumulate minor chances. Both Traore and Sasa Lukic had threatening moments after the break, with the latter’s forcing the corner through which Bassey scored for 2-1.

The routine was an oldie but goodie – Lukic played to the near post, Jimenez flicked across goal and Wood failed to pick up Bassey’s run on his blindside. Sels couldn’t get near the header.