Fulham 2-1 Nottingham Forest: Bassey header downs high-flying visitors

Nottingham Forest suffered their second defeat in three Premier League games after they were beaten 2-1 by a brilliant Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

Calvin Bassey arrived at the far post to head home a corner that was nodded on by Raul Jimenez in the 62nd minute to give Marco Silva’s side a deserved three points against the visitors.

Emile Smith Rowe had headed in a cross from Adama Traore in the 15th minute to give the home side the lead, and Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels kept his side in the game by producing two good saves to keep out Jimenez’s shots from distance.

Chris Wood then scored his 18th goal of the season in the 37th minute to bring Forest back into the game.

However, it was Fulham who maintained their control in the second half with Bassey restoring their lead before Selz had to make a string of saves to keep out Traore, Rodrigo Muniz and Harrison Reed to deny the Cottagers from running away with matters.

The defeat means Forest, third with 47 points, are now only three points clear of champions Manchester City who beat Newcastle United 4-0. Fulham, meanwhile, climbed up to eighth with 39 points.

Super Fulham. #FULNFO pic.twitter.com/qzEGOBcy56

— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) February 15, 2025

Data Debrief: Forest’s attack fails to fire

After scoring seven goals without reply against Brighton in their last league outing, it was a rare off day for Forest’s attack despite Wood finding himself on the scoresheet.

They only attempted eight shots in the game with only two of them on target, while Fulham had 10 shots on target from their 24 attempts.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side also only generated an expected goals (xG) of 0.4, while Fulham’s xG was an impressive 2.24.

Wood, however, continued his fantastic form, scoring his eighth goal in the last seven league games, while also reaching 20 goal involvements in a single campaign for the first time (18 goals, two assists).

Fulham’s Jimenez, meanwhile, has now been directly involved in five goals (four goals, one assist) in his last seven games.