Igor Jesus Scores Twice as Nottingham Forest Round Off European Group Stage with Win over Hungarian Opponents
At a Glance
- The home side were already through to the knockout round.
- A Ferencvaros defender deflection gives hosts a opening period lead.
- The striker's European strike puts Forest in command.
- Forward nets again with a sharp finish in the latter period.
- James McAtee rounds off a great performance with a penalty.
The Brazilian attacker found the net on two occasions as Nottingham Forest rounded off the league phase of the European competition with a convincing triumph against their Hungarian visitors at the City Ground.
The hosts had already secured a berth in the next qualifying round and entered this game with a small chance of reaching the league's elite, even though they needed other matches to fall in their favor.
Those results failed to materialize but this assured display will give Forest fans belief that their team can come through the home-and-away tie to reach the round of sixteen.
A Ferencvaros midfielder struck the post with a header inside the first 10 minutes for the visitors – who are managed by ex-Premier League forward Robbie Keane – but it was all Forest from then on.
They opened the scoring in the 17th minute when a delivery from midfield was deflected in by the defender and added a second four minutes later – Jesus firing an effort in at the back post for his tenth strike of the campaign.
Jesus' 11th came soon after the restart when he made a perfectly-timed run to escape the backline and then drive an effort past the goalkeeper.
That goal killed off the visitors' hopes of mounting a recovery and instead Forest scored again when the excellent McAtee scored from a penalty after a foul by the hapless Bence Otvos inside the box on Dan Ndoye.
The Europa League knockout phase play-off draw is scheduled on Friday, 30 January (midday UK time), where Nottingham Forest could be drawn against either the Turkish side or the Greek club.
"It is not just the result, there was that atmosphere about it. I want these guys to do collectively well, the entire team," said manager Sean Dyche.
"This is another step, but it is a good one."
Team Breakdown: Striker Shines as New Signing Observes from Stands
Igor Jesus has been a revelation for Nottingham Forest in European competition this season with half of his 11 goals coming in the tournament.
This double also means he has scored a trio of strikes in his last two games and the prospect of competition for his position in attack could be providing motivation.
Napoli striker Lorenzo Lucca was last week signed on loan and he was observing this match from the stands.
That may well have been on the striker's mind as he was impressive against the opposition, producing two excellent finishes and overall being a constant threat to the opposition backline with his pace and movement.
Jesus was not the only one in catching the eye, with James McAtee turning in his finest display in a Forest jersey since signing from the champions in the previous transfer window, while Dan Ndoye also performed well.
Such positive showings will give Forest some renewed optimism as they switch focus to pulling further away from the bottom three when they host their London rivals on Sunday.
"The minimum requirement is a response," added the manager.
"I have always trusted their commitment or their loyalty or integrity. It is just go and show your quality.
"McAtee was excellent and Dan Ndoye was incredibly lively. Jesus got another two and these are good signs."
Player of the Match
#19 Igor Jesus
Match rating: 9.1
Forest Top Players
- #19: Average Rating 9.10
- J. McAtee: Rating 8.75
- R. Yates: Rating 8.63
- I. Sangaré: Average Rating 8.0
- #31: Rating 7.94
The Visitors Notable Players
- B. Yusuf: Rating 4.1
- Júlio Romão: Average Rating 4.12
- #16: Rating 4.09
After the opportunity to rate players has ended, the rating shown represents the mean from all the votes.
