Fenerbahce 0-3 Nottingham Forest: New interim manager starts tenure with important win
Murillo opened the scoring in the first half, and with Igor Jesus and Morgan Gibbs-White adding a second and a third on either side of the break Nottingham Forest were cruising. This was Vitor Pereira’s first test as Forest boss and he passed with flying colours, his side dominating Fenerbahce in the first leg of their Europa League playoff tie.
The huge positive for Forest, besides the win, is that they were free-flowing and created so much, with an overall 16 shots on target on the night against the team second in the Turkish league. It’s exactly the kind of performance Forest fans will be looking forward to with a relegation battle on their hands back in England.
Here at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in Istanbul, Murillo danced past the hosts and let fly from 25 yards, beating Sam Johnstone with the ball nestling into the bottom right corner.
Elliot Anderson’s corner kick delivery to the near post was then flicked on by Gibbs-White, who had worked hard to get his head to it ahead of his marker. The ball floated towards the far post and there the deceptively diminutive Jesus rose to head home.
Forest’s elegant team display was showcased with their final goal in the second half, clever passing leading to Omari Hutchinson playing Jesus through to square to Gibbs-White. The latter was stumbling but he managed to stick a foot out and poke it beyond the onrushing Johnstone.
