Forest's Striker Fires a Brace as Nottingham Forest Conclude Europa League Group Stage with Win over Hungarian Opponents
Match Summary
- Forest were already through to the knockout round.
- Bence Otvos own goal gives hosts a opening period lead.
- The striker's European strike puts Forest in command.
- Striker nets again with a clinical effort in the latter period.
- James McAtee caps a excellent display with a penalty.
The Brazilian attacker scored twice as the Premier League side concluded the league phase of the European competition with a comfortable win against their Hungarian visitors at the City Ground.
The hosts had already secured a place in the next qualifying round and went into this fixture with a small chance of making the top eight, although they required several results to go their way.
That did not happen but this confident performance will give Forest fans belief that their side can come through the home-and-away tie to reach the round of sixteen.
A Ferencvaros midfielder struck the post with a headed effort inside the opening stages for the visitors – who are managed by ex-Premier League forward Robbie Keane – but it was dominantly the home side from then on.
They opened the scoring in the early stages when a delivery from midfield was turned into his own net by the defender and doubled the lead shortly after – Jesus squeezing a shot in at the far post for his tenth strike of the campaign.
The forward's eleventh goal came soon after the restart when he timed a run perfectly to break clear of the defence and then place a shot beyond the shot-stopper.
The third strike killed off Ferencvaros' aspirations of mounting a recovery and instead Forest added a fourth when the excellent McAtee scored from a spot-kick after a infringement by the unfortunate Otvos inside the box on Dan Ndoye.
The Europa League knockout phase play-off draw takes place on Friday, 30 January (midday UK time), where Forest might face either the Turkish side or Panathinaikos.
"It's more than the result, there was that atmosphere about it. I want these guys to do collectively well, the whole squad," said Forest boss Sean Dyche.
"That was another step, but it is a positive step."
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Jesus has been a revelation for Nottingham Forest in European competition this term with six of his eleven strikes coming in the tournament.
His brace also means he has scored three goals in his last two games and the threat of competition for his place in the forward line could be providing motivation.
Italian forward Lorenzo Lucca was last week brought in temporarily and he was observing this game from the directors' box.
That may well have been on Jesus' thoughts as he was impressive against Ferencvaros, producing two superb finishes and overall being a menace to the visitors' defence with his pace and movement.
The forward was not the only one in catching the eye, with James McAtee producing his best performance in a Nottingham Forest shirt since signing from Manchester City in the previous transfer window, while the Swiss international 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 welcome their London rivals on the weekend.
"The minimum requirement is a response," added Dyche.
"I have always trusted their work ethic or their loyalty or integrity. It is just about displaying your quality.
"James was very good and Dan was super sharp. Jesus got another couple and these are positive indicators."
Star Performer
Number: 19 The Striker
Average rating: 9.10
Forest Key Performers
- #19: Rating 9.10
- #24: Rating 8.75
- #22: Average Rating 8.63
- #6: Average Rating 8.0
- N. Milenković: Rating 7.94
Ferencváros Ratings
- #11: Rating 4.14
- #66: Average Rating 4.12
- #16: Rating 4.09
Once the chance to submit ratings has ended, the score displayed is the average from all the submissions.
