Nottingham Forest defeated Fenerbahce 3-0 in the first leg of their Europa League play-off contest at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in Istanbul, with Igor Jesus the star of the show.
Murillo opened the scoring in the early stages, lashing home an unstoppable effort from outside the penalty area which left Ederson all ends up.
😍What a win for Nottingham Forest vs Fenerbahce. Give us your three-word verdict to that performance!
Viva La Vitor!!!!
Jesus got in on the act before half-time as he headed home following a brilliant flick on by Morgan Gibbs-White at the near post.
After a stunning Stefan Ortega save, Forest went on the attack once again and after avoiding the offside trap, Jesus set up Gibbs-White to slide under Ederson and secure massive daylight for the Reds.
After a stunning first performance under Vitor Pereira, Nottingham Forest News looked at some player ratings for the Reds in Istanbul.
Stefan Ortega – 7
Made a stunning save at the start of the second half to keep Forest two goals to the good but in truth, he had little else to do throughout the match.
Ola Aina – 7
Tackled well and much like Neco Williams, he got forward with much more freedom than he’s been allowed to under Sean Dyche in recent weeks.
Nottingham Forest players celebrate vs Fenerbahce
Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP via Getty Images
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Nikola Milenkovic – 8
Colossal at the back once again as he paired back up with Murillo once again. The Serbian never ever gets flustered and seems to thrive on the hostile atmosphere.
Murillo – 9
Scored a wonderful goal after driving forward with the ball and lashing home beyond ex-Manchester City star Ederson. He’s been threatening this for weeks, and he never shirks his defensive responsibilities.
Neco Williams – 8
Another strong performance from the Welshman, who is a steady performer each and every week and seems to be the man for the big occasion.
Ibrahim Sangare – 8
Outstanding from the big man in the middle of the park, who strode around with the elegance of a player who is currently at the peak of his powers.
Elliot Anderson – 7
Played well but did give the ball away a little bit in the second half. Still, he got better as the game wore on and it was nice to be able to get him subbed and into an early ice bath before the end.
Who was your Nottingham Forest Man of the Match vs Fenerbahce
Omari Hutchinson – 7
Looked a lot more confident in possession and seemed to thrive on Forest having more of the ball, even if his delivery wasn’t quite at full pelt.
Morgan Gibbs-White – 9
Outstanding from the Forest captain who seemed bang up for this game and looked keen to rectify his errors from the Wolves game. The shackles were well and truly off.
Callum Hudson-Odoi – 7
Tried extremely hard, but there is perhaps an argument that he’s still trying a bit too hard. His efforts on goal were a little wayward in this one but he deserves credit for finding space an awful lot.
Igor Jesus – 10
Superb from the striker! Scored a very tidy header in the first half before unselfishly setting up Gibbs-White to score Forest’s third goal in the second half.
Substitutes
Dan Ndoye – 7
Much better, confident and kept the ball well with very few errors.
Lorenzo Lucca – 7
Wasn’t really his game but he did at least give the Fenerbahce defenders something to think about as an alternative to Jesus.
Ryan Yates – 7
Just because nobody who took part in this one deserves any less than a 7. Kept things ticking when he did get on the pitch.
Nicolas Dominguez – 7
The Argentine gave the ball away with his first touch but recovered well.
James McAtee – N/A
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