Will the real Nottingham Forest please stand up?

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A costly mistake from Murillo and not a single shot of any kind from Chris Wood.

It is unusual for one of those things to happen. For both to occur in the space of one game felt as much of a rarity as a Des Walker goal.

This was a bad time for Nottingham Forest to produce their least Nottingham Forest-like display. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side had not conceded a single goal in their four previous home games.

They looked very much like making it five until Murillo, the Brazilian who normally has as much poise on the ball as Reds legend Walker — who scored just once in 407 appearances for Forest — ever did, clumsily allowed Dwight McNeil to snatch the ball off his toes in the 94th minute, leading to Abdoulaye Doucoure securing the only goal of the game for Everton.

It was the first home goal Forest had conceded in the Premier League since January, when Paul Onuachu scored for Southampton in January. The 449 minutes that had passed without conceding since then were not down to Murillo and central-defensive partner Nikola Milenkovic alone, but the duo had been a huge factor.

Murillo remains one of the brightest defensive talents in Europe. This was just a day that demonstrated that he is not infallible. But he was not alone. The same was true of the team as a whole. It was their first defeat at home since November, when they were beaten 3-1 by Newcastle. It was also only the third time this season that Forest have failed to score in a Premier League game at the City Ground.

It is not unusual for Wood to have only a handful of touches in a game. The 12 he had against Everton was not his lowest tally of the season. He had only nine in the 3-0 defeat at Manchester City last December. The difference was that, in that game, he still had three efforts on goal, including one on target.

The New Zealand international’s 18 Premier League goals have come from only 50 shots, at a rate of 0.30 goals per shot, which represents the most prolific finishing in the division. For comparison, the division’s top scorer, Mohamed Salah, has scored 27 goals from 100 shots, at a rate of 0.18 goals per shot.

What stood out against Everton was that there were so few moments when Wood — or anyone else in the Forest side — looked like making the breakthrough. Forest managed only eight touches in the Everton penalty area, the second-lowest of the campaign behind the smash-and-grab 1-0 win at Liverpool in September.

Wood was making his first appearance since being sidelined with a hip injury sustained on international duty and can be forgiven a little rustiness as a result. It was Jota Silva, making his fifth Premier League start, who came the closest to scoring for Forest, but neither his shot nor a subsequent flicked header required more than run-of-the-mill saves from goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

Manager David Moyes came out on top in the tactical battle, with his Everton side happy to play with structure and discipline. Forest’s usual counter-attacking style was almost completely nullified for long spells.

But that is also a rarity this season. This was very much out of character for both Nuno and his side. This is why, with two weeks before their next game, on Monday, April 21, at Tottenham Hotspur, there is no need for panic or despair. Instead, Forest must remember what has got them to this point, the identity that has carried them to within touching distance of Champions League qualification.

Neco Williams cuts a frustrated figure at full time (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Edu, who is expected to take on a senior role within the Evangelos Marinakis football empire in the summer following his departure from Arsenal, was a guest of the club at the City Ground. In isolation, this was a performance that might have underlined the need for more strength in depth to be added to the Forest ranks if their impressive momentum is to be maintained next season.

Right now, Forest remain third in the table, albeit with the chasing pack having made up ground on them. But as a dejected Nuno said in his post-match press conference, Forest’s fate is still in their own hands.

Their next two games — with an FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City at Wembley following their trip to face an unpredictable Spurs — should, in theory, be better suited to the counter-attacking style that has been integral to Forest’s rise.

There is a chance that Ola Aina will recover from his calf injury and the return of the full-back would make a significant difference. Meanwhile, Wood and Anthony Elanga will have the opportunity to work on their sharpness following their injury issues.

The bigger picture is still a positive one, as Everton manager Moyes underlined after the game. He led Everton into the qualifying rounds of the Champions League with a fourth-placed finish in 2004-05 and more recently guided West Ham to a European trophy.

“They (Forest) have done remarkably well,” he said. “I’m fortunate enough (that) in the last few years I’ve had Europa League and the Conference League. I think Nottingham Forest would have snapped your hand off for that. The position they’re in is incredible. It looks as if they’re certain to get into one of the European competitions.”

Forest have already made a real habit out of winning games that people do not expect them to. If they can get back to that in the remaining six Premier League games, then, as Nuno says, their fate is very much in their own hands.

(Top photo: Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)

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