Igor Jesus Fires a Brace as Nottingham Forest Round Off European Group Stage with Victory over Ferencvaros
Match Summary
- Forest were previously qualified to the knockout round.
- A Ferencvaros defender own goal gives hosts a opening period lead.
- The striker's European strike puts the team in command.
- Striker nets again with a clinical effort in the latter period.
- The midfielder rounds off a excellent performance with a spot-kick.
Igor Jesus found the net on two occasions as Nottingham Forest rounded off the group stage of the European competition with a convincing triumph against Ferencvaros at the City Ground.
Forest had previously guaranteed a place in the next qualifying round and entered this game with a small chance of reaching the top eight, although they needed several results to fall in their favor.
Those results failed to materialize but this confident performance will give Forest fans confidence that their team can navigate the home-and-away tie to advance to the last 16.
Kristoffer Zachariassen struck the post with a headed effort inside the first 10 minutes for the away team – who are managed by ex-Premier League forward Robbie Keane – but it was all Forest from then on.
Forest opened the scoring in the early stages when Ryan Yates' cross was turned into his own net by the defender and added a second shortly after – Jesus firing an effort in at the back post for his 10th goal of the season.
Jesus' eleventh goal arrived soon after the restart when he made a perfectly-timed run to escape the defence and then drive an effort beyond the shot-stopper.
The third strike ended the visitors' hopes of mounting a recovery and instead Forest scored again when the excellent McAtee converted a penalty after a foul by the unfortunate Otvos inside the box on Dan Ndoye.
The Europa League qualifying round lottery is scheduled on Friday, 30 January (midday UK time), where Nottingham Forest could be drawn against either Fenerbahce or Panathinaikos.
"It is not just the result, there was that feel about it. I want these guys to do collectively well, the entire team," said manager Sean Dyche.
"That was another stride forward, but it is a positive step."
Forest Analysis: Striker Shines as New Signing Observes from Stands
Jesus has been a standout performer for Nottingham Forest in Europe this term with six of his 11 goals scored in the tournament.
This double also means he has got a trio of strikes in his previous two outings and the prospect of competition for his place in the forward line could be spurring him on.
Napoli striker Lorenzo Lucca was last week signed on loan and he was watching this game from the stands.
This development may well have been on Jesus' thoughts as he was outstanding against the opposition, producing two excellent goals and generally being a menace to the visitors' defence with his pace and runs.
The forward was not alone in catching the eye, with James McAtee turning in his best performance in a Nottingham Forest shirt since signing from Manchester City last summer, while the Swiss international also performed well.
These encouraging performances will give Forest some renewed optimism as they turn their attention to pulling further away from the bottom three when they host their London rivals on Sunday.
"The minimum requirement is a response," continued Dyche.
"I have always trusted their commitment or their dedication or integrity. It is just go and show your quality.
"James was very good and Dan was super sharp. Igor got another two and these are positive indicators."
Star Performer
#19 Igor Jesus
Match rating: 9.1
Nottingham Forest Top Players
- Igor Jesus: Rating 9.10
- #24: Average Rating 8.8
- R. Yates: Rating 8.63
- I. Sangaré: Rating 8.0
- N. Milenković: Average Rating 7.9
The Visitors Ratings
- B. Yusuf: Rating 4.1
- Júlio Romão: Average Rating 4.12
- K. Zachariassen: Rating 4.09
Once the chance to submit ratings has closed, the rating displayed represents the average from all the submissions.
