Fulham seventh after beating Forest

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Fulham 2 Nottm Forest 0

Fulham moved up to seventh in the Premier League with a deserved victory at Craven Cottage.

Marco Silva’s side continued their momentum from the midweek defeat of Sunderland in the FA Cup, thanks to a fantastic first-half goal by Willian and a late second by substitute Manor Solomon against a spirited Nottingham Forest.

Following a quiet start, Fulham went ahead in tremendous fashion after 17 minutes. Willian, picking up possession on the right side of the penalty area, twisted and turned Forest full back Renan Lodi, before crashing a superbly accurate shot into the top corner of the net.

With the Whites enjoying most of the possession, Aleksandar Mitrovic nearly doubled the lead in 34 minutes, but although the Serbian striker cleverly made space for himself, his ultimate shot was deflected wide.

Bobby Decordova-Reid then rifled a terrific right foot effort from distance which cannoned off the Forest crossbar, as Fulham went agonisingly close once again moments before the interval.

In-form Willian then clipped the post as the Whites resumed control of events in the second half. However Forest – who have hauled themselves away from the relegation zone of late – revived to a degree, and went close to equalising on a couple of occasions, via Brennan Johnson and Emmanuel Dennis respectively.

Fulham had to wait for their second goal to clinch all the points. With three minutes remaining, Solomon slotted home from a well-worked goal on the break, driving the ball past Forest keeper Keylor Navas, after sprightly assistance by both Kenny Tete and Andreas Pereira.

Fulham: Leno, Tete (Soares 90), Robinson, Ream, Diop, Reed, Palhinho, Pereira (Lukic 90), Willian (Solomon 71), De Cordova-Reid (Wilson 84), Mitrovic (Vinicius 84)