Player ratings: Fulham 2-1 Nottingham Forest

Mike Sheldrake reviews Fulham’s player performances after our brilliant 2-1 win over high-flying Nottingham Forest.

After a great win away at Newcastle and a victory at Wigan in the cup, we looked to extend our streak of victories against a high-flying Nottingham Forest, and we did just that completing our third league double of the season as a fantastic 2-1 win takes us up into a potential European place. We really do love playing against the top teams don’t we?

Bernd Leno:

It was a comfortable day between the sticks for Bernd as Forest only managed to rack up two shots on target, he made one save which he would be expected to make, and will be disappointed not to keep a clean sheet in but overall it was a satisfactory performance. 6.5/10

Antonee Robinson

It was a good, but not quite standout performance from Robbo in this game, I think the quality of Forest’s wide players and the forward-minded attitude of Ola Aina when Forest were on the ball forced Robbo to be more mindful with his positioning, ensuring he didn’t leave any gaps defensively, despite this, he was still able to help offensively and limit Forest’s chances well. 7/10

Calvin Bassey

Our match-winner Calvin Bassey will be very pleased with his back post header to secure three points for Fulham, he was unlucky for Forest’s goal as Chris Wood’s shot took a deflection off him and into the bottom corner, however his performance aside from that was spectacular, Calvin carried the ball up the pitch very well and was at the root of a lot of our attacks. 8/10

Joachim Andersen

The Dane was a rock at the back today, Forest tried to attack from wide areas but Joachim was having none of it with a total of nine headed clearances and four out of five aerial duels won. Every long ball Forest tried was met by the head of Andersen, and this was great to see as he looked back at his best today. With Diop performing well all season it was crucial for Joachim to get back to form after injury and he did just that today. 7.5/10

Timothy Castagne

Timmy was ever so slightly frustrating on a couple of occasions in my opinion, such as a wasted chance to square the ball in the second half. However he did all the simple things right, successfully completing 48/51 attempted passes. Tete stepped up a level before his injury and now with no senior back-up available in this position, it does worry me that Castagne is our only option. 6/10

Saša Lukić

Wow. Every time I lay my eyes upon this man he never fails to impress. He is so comfortable on the ball and his passing is incredible, yet again in this game he left me shocked on multiple occasions, and the statistics back it up. Six chances were created by our Serbian sensation and every single pass he attempted was successful. Let’s hope his injury is nothing serious because he’s been one of, if not our best player this season. 9/10 – Man of the match

Sander Berge

It feels like our midfield is unbeatable with Sander and Saša together, once again Berge was both solid and reliable in the middle of the park, winning all four duels he was involved in. The towering Norwegian has been great all season, and has solidified his place in the XI, securing another full 90 in this one. 7.5/10

Emile Smith Rowe

It has been a worry recently that Emile hadn’t been making the impact that his price tag suggested he might, but he has certainly looked much better since Leicester away, and that was the case here as well. He scored another header to open the scoring and played 82 minutes, let’s hope his confidence levels stay high and he can keep scoring. 7.5/10

Alex Iwobi

The whole front line was on fire today and Alex was too against one of the most in-form right-backs in the Premier League this season. He was close to an assist after a lovely bit of footwork allowed him to set up Lukić, who was unlucky not to score. It felt like the attacking play was more balanced between each side today rather than the left-sided dominance we’ve seen throughout the season, which might have made it seem like Alex was quieter than usual. 7/10

Adama Traore

That first half was definitely up there with some of the best halves of football I’ve seen from Adama Traore, he had Neco Williams on toast and secured himself a fantastic assist with a perfect cross to Smith Rowe for the opener. He was a constant threat throughout the game and played almost the whole of it, which was great to see as he is often taken off early when starting. Top tier stuff from the Spaniard. 8.5/10

Raúl Jiménez

You wouldn’t think Raúl was 33 watching that game, he was running all over the place, got himself seven shots and was extremely unlucky not to score today, only due to Sels incredible goalkeeping performance. He did, however, manage to get an assist to his name after a lovely flick-on from our corner towards Bassey who of course thumped it in. Great performance. 7.5/10

Substitutes

Rodrigo Muniz (76’ for Jiménez)

Threw himself at every ball and tried his hardest for the short time he was on the pitch. 6.5/10

Andreas Pereira (82’ for Smith Rowe)

Not involved enough to be fairly assessed.

Harrison Reed (83’ for Lukić)

Had a shot on target which was brilliantly saved by Sels, and helped secure the last 10 minutes well. 6.5/10

Ryan Sessegnon (90’ for Iwobi)

Not involved enough to be fairly assessed.

Willian (90’ for Traore)

He may have only played one minute, but it was a beautiful minute, great link up down the right to keep hold of the ball in the dying moments. 6.5/10

Manager 

Marco Silva

The game plan that Marco set out today worked perfectly and I think most would agree that this was one of our best performances of the season, the football was beautiful, the substitutes weren’t rushed which was the right thing to do on this occasion, and everything was executed exactly as Marco would have thought it out. He seems to know exactly how to play against this Forest side, it’s just a shame we can’t do the same every week. 9/10