In eight minutes, Nottingham Forest summed up all they have become under Nuno Espirito Santo.
Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Aston Villa may not be remembered as a season-defining result — at least, not in the same way as the wins at Anfield or Old Trafford — but among the 3,500 minutes or so of football that will make up their Premier League campaign, few moments will better define how Forest have transformed than this comeback.
Forest have gone from a side that twice battled relegation to one that is now allowing fans to dare to dream of making a first return to European football since Frank Clark’s side finished third in the top flight three decades ago.
After 16 games of that 1994-95 campaign, Forest had 28 points — the same record as Nuno’s Forest boast now, following another raucous, remarkable night at the City Ground. Not only is it their joint-best start in the Premier League but they are also only four points from matching the 32 they finished with last season (albeit with a four-point deduction for breaking the Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations).
Their rise was personified in the 87th and 93rd minutes when goals secured an exhilarating victory that moved Forest to fourth in the league.
It took the best part of four agonising minutes to conclude Anthony Elanga had been offside in the build-up to what Forest thought was an equaliser from Chris Wood. It must qualify as one of the tightest offside calls since the VAR system was introduced. As different images and angles popped up on the screens in the City Ground press box, it was impossible to properly discern whether the winger had strayed offside or not.
But instead of feeling any sense of injustice, Forest used it as inspiration.
Neco Williams impressed again, playing a key role in Forest’s equaliser against Aston Villa (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Previous Forest teams might have crumbled. Not this one. Two minutes after the City Ground had let out a collective groan of frustration, the noise came again, in a very different sense.
Neco Williams’ probing run took him across the face of the penalty area, from left to right. The left-back got himself into a position from where he could easily have delivered a cross but, instead, he played an intelligent, precise ball to the overlapping Morgan Gibbs-White, who was in an even better position to lift a cross towards the far post. Arriving with purpose, the battering-ram figure of Nikola Milenkovic forced home a header.
Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who had previously produced a breathtaking, world-class save to deny Nico Dominguez, might have done more to keep the ball out — but the majority in the stadium did not care.
Williams was in the side, at least partially, because the on-loan Alex Moreno could not play against his parent club. But Moreno — whose joyous celebrations at the final whistle felt telling, with Forest holding an option to make the move permanent — may have to be patient for his return.
With Ola Aina and Moreno establishing themselves as first-choice options in the full-back positions, Williams has needed to show his quality and versatility. But his performances for Wales had not gone unnoticed by Nuno, who has been keen to give Williams an opportunity to shine, and that is exactly what he has done in the last two games, having been restored to the team that won 3-2 at Manchester United.
Gibbs-White is showing that he can be relied upon to produce telling contributions when they are needed most, following on from his goal at Old Trafford with a dynamic all-round display and an assist.
And the superlatives are running dry for Milenkovic, who represents the best £11million ($13.9m) Forest have spent in a long time. The former Fiorentina defender is simply a colossus. As well as scoring a second goal in two games, he made six clearances at the other end.
The cast of players involved in Forest’s second goal also felt significant.
This was the latest Forest had trailed in a Premier League game and gone on to win (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
When Callum Hudson-Odoi’s attempt to feed in Jota Silva down the left-hand channel was intercepted, Elliot Anderson reacted quickly to win the ball back from former Forest defender Matty Cash on the edge of the box.
Cash wanted a foul, but Anderson did not look back as he drove into the box and looked up, before cutting the ball back into the path of Elanga, who finished emphatically for his first goal since February.
Forest have worked hard to maintain the winger’s confidence and belief during a period when he has lost his starting place to Jota.
“It’s not been easy but it’s important to have the right attitude,” said Elanga in a post-match interview with journalists. “Work hard in training, regardless of whether I play, because you’ll always get rewarded. I’ve always said that it will start clicking at some stage — and I’m grateful for the support of the people around me. The team’s been doing well, even if I’ve not been contributing with goals, that’s the most important thing.”
In Jota, Hudson-Odoi, Elanga and Ramon Sosa, Forest have four wingers capable of causing chaos. Anderson has also added to the creativity and brilliance of Gibbs-White, with similar, invaluable attributes. Forest now have more than one talisman.
In the 10 games Forest have played since the start of October, they have only failed to score in two — at Arsenal and Manchester City. Even at 1-0 down in the 86th minute, there was a belief that Forest were not done.
This was the latest they had trailed in a Premier League game and gone on to win. In the closing stages, Forest demonstrated why, under Nuno, fans are beginning to think nothing is impossible.
(Top photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
