Half-time: Nottingham Forest 2 Fulham 1

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Ross McCormack’s stunning free-kick gave Fulham hope of salvaging something after a disastrous start saw them concede twice inside 21 minutes.

Both goals were disputed by the Whites, who claimed Britt Assombalonga handled the first and felt his second from the penalty spot came following a fair challenge by Shaun Hutchinson on Michail Antonio.

Controversy aside, Nottingham Forest’s lead was harsh on bottom-of-the-table Fulham who had started well despite the ever-increasing pressure on manager Felix Magath.

Home keeper Karl Darlow saved Tim Hoogland’s 20-yard shot and then just about stopped another long-range strike from McCormack.

But Forest led when Assombalonga headed home Henri Lansbury’s free-kick and it was 2-0 when Assombalonga found the bottom corner from the penalty spot after Hutchinson appeared to have won a perfectly timed tackle on Antonio as he raced through on goal.

But Fulham showed good spirit to pull a goal back when McCormack curled the ball over the wall and into the near post and they almost snatched an equaliser when Hugo Rodallega’s shot was cleared off the line by Eric Lichaj.

Fulham: Kiraly; Bodurov, Hutchinson, Burn, Amorebieta; Hoogland, Parker, Fotheringham, Stafylidis; McCormack, Rodallega.
Subs: Bettinelli, Eisfeld, Roberts, G. Williams, Hyndman, David, Kavanagh.

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