There was an argument to be made that in the midst of a run of five successive matches against the current top five, Everton’s trip to Nottingham Forest was among the most difficult of the assignments. Unbeaten at the City Ground since November, possessing the most clean sheets in the top flight, and looking formidable in their improbable charge into third place in the Premier League, Forest made for daunting opponents.
The reality that unfolded in the East Midlands sunshine this afternoon, however, was very different and it undermined much of the hype around Nuno Espirito Santo’s side who, almost throughout, looked more like the team that had been struggling at the wrong end of the table with the Toffees last year than an outfit with Champions League aspirations. There were occasional flashes of the deadly counter-attacking outfit they have shown themselves to be this season but, for the most part, they played second fiddle to an Everton team that controlled this contest almost from start to finish.
For long stretches, it felt as though David Moyes’s men just needed to get their act together to make the telling breakthrough and the points would probably be theirs. It eventually came — very late and in very Forest-esque fashion! — through the almost ludicrously enigmatic figure of Abdoulaye Doucouré but the French-born midfielder’s fabulous winner was no more than the visitors deserved.
Doucouré has come to crystallise the tension between pragmatic Everton, scrapping away for points in the lower reaches of the League and now trying to end the campaign as high up the table as possible, and the tantalising prospect of something altogether more cultured and capable of challenging in the right half in 2025/26. Frustratingly inept at times in the final third, a feeling encapsulated in a dreadful first-half pass aimed in the general direction of Armando Broja that ended a promising move outside the hosts’ penalty area, the Blues’ No 16 was many fans’ pick to make way for Carlos Alcaraz in the second period.
Moyes, however, having sung his praises after last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal, kept faith with Doucouré and he produced a fine finish at the end of a three-on-two counter to win the game for the Blues in stoppage time. Fittingly, given that despite having spent four months on the sidelines with a knee injury he was still Everton’s top creator of goals, Dwight McNeil laid on the crucial assist just moments after entering the fray.
The manager’s other comments after the Gunners game hinted that the intricacies around the terms of the Club’s agreement with Flamengo for Alcaraz is dictating how many starts the Argentine is being handed so it was frustrating but not surprising to see him take his place on the substitutes’ bench once more alongside McNeil.
Doucouré was preferred in the role behind the striker but this time Armando Broja was given the chance to impress for his first start since the reverse fixture against the Trees in November with Beto making way. Vitalii Mykolenko was fit again to take his place at left-back and James Garner was restored alongside Idrissa Gueye in central midfield.
Notorious for ceding possession to the opposition under Santo, Forest were a non-entity in the match as an attacking force for the first 26 minutes. By contrast, Everton, for so long under Sean Dyche as allergic to extended possession as today’s hosts, were measured and composed but let themselves down with poor execution in attacking areas.
Broja and Iliman Ndiaye were each picked out with balls into the box inside the first 11 minutes but were unable to bring it under their spell to get off a shot while Jack Harrison despatched a rising shot over the crossbar in the 19th minute as the Blues signalled their intentions.
They went closer shortly afterwards, Ndiaye dancing his way past a couple of players and firing between Nikola Milenković’s legs but his weak shot was comfortably saved before Harrison slipped a pass inside for Garner to fire goal-wards buts Matz Sels parried his effort.
For Forest, Jota Silva was the first to threaten in the first with a tame shot from Callum Hudson-Odoi’s cross and an equally harmless header from the same source, both of which were easily dealt with by Jordan Pickford while Ndiaye popped up in the other box to meet Harrison’s cross but could only plant his header into the goalkeeper’s arms.
So buoyant and vocal before the first whistle, the home fans had become increasingly restless as the first period wore on but they were given hope by their team in the minutes before the interval when Morgan Gibbs-White flashed a long-range “sighter” just wide and Forest broke in trademark fashion in stoppage time when Chris Wood released Hudson-Odoi but Pickford was equal to his shot, beating it away from goal.
The opening exchanges of the second half would have given the Forest faithful more hope that their players could rouse themselves from their torpor as they emerged from the break with a bit more purpose and a greater desire to try and get the ball down and work their way through the Blues’ rearguard. When the otherwise faultless Idrissa Gueye was dispossessed in the middle and the ball quickly worked to Hudson-Odoi, the winger cut back around Jake O’Brien onto his right foot but his shot lacked conviction.
However, it was Everton who carved out the best chance of the game to that point a minute later when James Tarkowski sent a raking ball over the top for Ndiaye but while his first touch was immaculate, his second saw the ball run just a little too far off his boot and Sels was able to come out and make a vital block.
After Broja had made way for Beto, Gibbs-White tried to guide an Alex Moreno cross inside the far post with the outside of his boot but Pickford was alive to the danger while, at the other end, O’Brien had a shot in the box charged down resulting in one of seven corners the Toffees would have on the day, none of which ever looked likely to cause the hosts problems.
By this stage, with the lively Alcaraz coming off the bench for Ndiaye and driving the side forward, there only looked to be one winner. Doucouré’s left-footed drive at the back post was blocked behind in the 73rd minute and two minutes later, an excellent counter-attack led by Alcaraz ended with Doucouré’s reverse pass to Harrison but after spinning onto the ball, he could only blaze narrowly over the bar from near the penalty spot.
After Garner bobbled a terrible effort well wide, Beto had a penalty claim rejected by both Craig Pawson and the Video Assistant Referee and Alcaraz had ballooned Beto’s lay-off into the stand behind Sels’s goal, it looked as though Everton’s dominance was going to come to little else than a creditable but disappointing goalless draw.
However, as Forest went in search of an underserved winner in the five minutes of added time that would have kept them in the driving seat for a third-place finish, the Toffees pounced. McNeil, who had only entered the fray in the 90th minute seized on Murillo's errant touch a few yards inside Everton’s half and pushed forward before threading an inch-perfect ball between the two retreating defenders.
His pass picked out Doucouré who still had plenty to do from just inside the box but he swept a cracking shot away from the keeper and inside the near post before wheeling away to celebrate in front of the delirious away fans, with a gesture that seemed to suggest he was waiting for the Club’s call about furthering contract negotiations that would keep him at Everton beyond this summer.
The thrilling conclusion was no more than the Blues deserved for an all-round display that made a mockery of the yawning gap between the two clubs’ respective places in the division. For long periods it looked as though their deficiencies up front was going to prevent them from picking up the points that their performance merited but a deadly move in transition and an emphatic finish gave the travelling Evertonians a euphoric finalé.
Manchester City will pose an altogether different challenge but this is another impressive result, Everton's first win in seven games, to add to those engineered by Moyes. It also adds plenty of intrigue to the debate over Doucouré's future as the recruitment team continue their planning for the close season recruitment drive.