With the pressure mounting on Steve Cooper, the last thing the under-fire Forest boss wanted was a slow start at Craven Cottage. Unfortunately for the Welshman, that’s exactly what happened, with Alex Iwobi netting the opener on the half-hour mark.
Spotted at the back post by veteran attacker Willian, the ex-Everton attacker watched the ball onto his right foot, before nudging it beyond the onrushing Odysseas Vlachodimos.
One very quickly became two, with Raúl Jiménez getting in on the act for the home side this time, expertly finishing from 12 yards out, following Andreas Pereira’s dinked-through ball. Adding to his two other Premier League goals for the campaign, Jiménez displayed the sort of quality that tempted the Cottagers into a summer purchase.
Given that Forest had kept just one clean sheet in each of their previous 11 league matches against Fulham, it was perhaps no surprise that the Nottingham-based outfit conceded during the first half. However, Cooper would’ve been left furious at his side’s defensive efforts during the second.
Shrugging off defender Ola Aina, earlier goalscorer Jiménez rounded the goalkeeper before cheekily backheeling the ball into an empty net.
At risk of the match turning into a rout, Cooper turned to his bench in an attempt to sure things up. All it ended up doing though was spur Fulham on to find a fourth, which duly arrived when Iwobi breached the Forest backline once again, scoring his second of the evening in similar fashion to the first.
Picked out by substitute Harry Wilson, the Nigeria international made no mistake with an emphatic finish from close range.
But the match would eventually be wrapped up with just five minutes to play, when yet another mistake presented Tom Cairney with a chance to net against his boyhood club, which he took with open arms.
It was a wonderful evening for Fulham, while Forest are now surely looking over their shoulders, given the potential for Everton to halve their gap behind Forest tomorrow evening, with the Reds having now won one of their previous 11 outings.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Raúl Jiménez (Fulham)
