Morgan Gibbs-White celebratesGetty Images
At a glance
Murillo & Igor Jesus give Forest a two-goal half-time lead
Morgan Gibbs-White adds their third after the break
Forest host Fenerbahce in second leg on 26 February with last-16 spot at stake
PLAYER RATINGS
Steve Sutcliffe
BBC Sport journalist
Vitor Pereira made the perfect start to his reign as new Nottingham Forest boss as they claimed a stylish victory at Fenerbahce in the first leg of their Europa League knockout round play-off tie.
The visitors dominated from start to finish and will now be strong favourites to advance to the last 16 - where either Midtjylland or Real Betis await - when the second leg gets under way at the City Ground on 26 February (20:00 GMT).
In a performance brimming with adventure and confidence, returning central defender Murillo surged through midfield to open the scoring with a 20-yard strike that zipped past home goalkeeper Ederson into the bottom right corner.
It was largely one-way traffic in the opening period as a Fenerbahce side containing a smattering of players with Premier League experience struggled to retain possession and cope with Forest's intensity.
Aside from a Talisca effort which cannoned into the arm of Murillo and prompted sustained calls for a penalty, which was not awarded after a video assistant referee (VAR) check, there was little for the home fans to get excited about.
Instead, the visiting supporters became more audible as the evening progressed as their side put aside their struggles in the Premier League, which led to Pereira coming in to replace Sean Dyche.
And they were able to rejoice just three minutes later, when Igor Jesus registered his seventh goal in the competition with a close-range header from Morgan Gibbs-White's near-post flick on.
Jesus' strike also broke Garry Birtles' club record of most goals in a single European campaign - six when Forest won the European Cup in 1979.
Any notion they might sit back after the break content with their two-goal lead was quickly dispelled five minutes after the restart.
Jesus and Gibbs-White reversed their roles as provider and goalscorer as the England midfielder tapped in to ensure a wonderful first ever trip to Turkey for the two-time former champions of Europe.
More to follow.
Have your say on Nottingham Forest's performance
The Player Rater cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable JavaScript or try another browser.
How to play
Rate players out of 10 for this game. The rater will close 30 minutes after the final whistle. You must be signed in to a BBC account to play.
1 Give it up
10 Pure perfection
Fenerbahçe
Nottingham Forest
Starting XI
31Ederson
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
18M. Müldür
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
24J. Oosterwolde
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
37M. Škriniar
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
27Nélson Semedo
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
17N. Kanté
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
6M. Guendouzi
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
9K. Aktürkoğlu
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
94Talisca
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
21Marco Asensio
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
26S. Cherif
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Substitutes
22L. Mercan
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
45D. Nene
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
7Fred
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
4Ç. Söyüncü
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
5İ. Yüksek
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Back to team tabs
Starting XI
27S. Ortega
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
3N. Williams
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
5Murillo
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
31N. Milenković
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
34O. Aina
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
6I. Sangaré
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
8E. Anderson
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
7C. Hudson-Odoi
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
10M. Gibbs-White
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
21O. Hutchinson
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
19Igor Jesus
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Substitutes
16N. Domínguez
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
20L. Lucca
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
24J. McAtee
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
14D. Ndoye
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
22R. Yates
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Back to team tabs
After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.
Related topics
Nottingham Forest
Europa League
Football