Forest Grab a shock win
SABRI LAMOUCHI hailed the resilience of his Nottingham Forest side as they stunned in-form Fulham.
Two goals for Lewis Grabban were enough, but they had to withstand massive late pressure by the free-scoring hosts to clinch the victory.
Forest boss Lamouchi felt his side deserved the points for their defending.
He said: “My feeling tonight is happy, as it’s a great result. A fantastic performance by the team. They respect the plan, they play compact.
“We started in the right way, we disturbed them a lot and fight until the end.
“It was not easy because they played very wide, with Ivan Cavaleiro one side and Anthony Knockaert on the other, with Aboubakar Kamara and Alekansar Mitrovic in the middle.
“They did a great, great job, and maybe with luck sometimes we defended very well. I think they deserve this victory, for the spirit, for the plan, for the character, for the style, for the goals.” Forest took the lead after just four minutes when Grabban was able to steer a Jack Robinson cross home past Marcus Bettinelli.
Fulham threatened with a Joe Bryan shot just wide while Anthony Knockaert saw his header on 53 minutes scrambled away.
The visitors doubled their lead just after the hour mark, when Grabban pounced on a loose ball to go past the Fulham backline and rifle home.
Forest keeper Brice Samba made a fine reaction save on 69 minutes, tipping away a deflected shot by Steven Sessegnon.
Fulham set up a grandstand finish after Aleksandar Mitrovic fired home on 84 minutes. However, despite eight minutes of injury time they were unable to net the equaliser.
Cottagers boss Scott Parker believed his side deserved more.
He said “I felt we controlled the game, we were in control – we started slowly. I was disappointed at the way we started.
“When they scored early, it put us on the back foot. Saying that, after that we looked a real threat.
“I always felt comfortable in the way we were playing, certainly in possession.
“I include the second half, the second goal comes from a mistake by us, which is one of those things.
“I take responsibility for that, that is the way I want us to play and sometimes that can happen.” FULHAM NOTT’MFOREST 6 ........ Shots on Target ......... 3 8 ........ Shots off Target ......... 4 13 ...............Corners .................. 1 8 .................. Fouls .................... 11 1 ................ Offsides .................. 1 90.7.. Passing Success%.... 66.7 776 ....... Total Passes ......... 234 77.1 ...... Possession% ....... 22.9 52.1 ... Territorial Adv%.... 47.9