Everton (A) 06/12/25

Everton 3-0 Nottingham Forest

Milenkovic OG 2'

Barry 45+3'

Dewsbury-Hall 80'

Two weeks ago, Forest travelled up north to face Liverpool. They left Anfield with all three points, just like last season, after defeating the champions 3-0. Now, they were headed back up Merseyside to face Everton in their first visit to the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Last campaign, the Reds won at Goodison Park. Could Forest become the first side in history to win at both Liverpudlian clubs in back-to-back seasons?

Sean Dyche named the same side that picked up a much-needed win at Molineux in midweek. David Moyes led his team to a 1-0 victory over Bournemouth in their previous fixture, and made one change to this side as Micheal Keane came in for Tim Iroegbunam.

The visitors couldn’t have got off to a worse start. Nicolo Savona, who would be up against Jack Grealish, got himself booked within 20 seconds and Nikola Milenkovic gave Everton the lead. Forest cleared the free kick that saw Savona booked before it ended up with former Red, James Garner back out on the left. Dewsbury-Hall made a run which was found by Garner. Ndoye tried to get back and defend but was fooled by one cut back, allowing Dewsbury-Hall to get a cross in. There wasn’t much danger in the area but Milenkovic flicked it into his own net from five yards out.

Forest don’t have the best record against Everton, losing six of the last ten meetings. The Toffees are also yet to lose when going ahead this season. Everton completely dominated the rest of the half but it did lack any real chances. That was until added time. Hutchinson had the ball on the left before finding Anderson in the box. The midfielder took on a shot from a tight angle which Pickford got down well to tip away. Up the other end, Everton doubled their lead. Hutchinson lost the ball in midfield, allowing Ndiaye to lead the Toffees charge. He skipped past Morato on the halfway line leaving Milenkovic three on one. Ndiaye continued his run until the edge of the ‘d’ before laying off to Barry to the left of him. The Frenchman finished first time into the bottom right corner for his first Premier League goal.

After a half for his side that lacked attacking threat, Dyche made three half-time substitutions; Abbott came on for his Premier League debut to replace Savona, Yates came on for Sangare and Hudson-Odoi replaced Ndoye. The opening 20 minutes felt flat as neither side created any clear cut chances.

If Forest were going to score in this game, it would come from an Everton mistake. That’s almost what happened! Hudson-Odoi whipped in a ball from the left which Pickford came out to punch. He didn’t punch it far though as it hit teammate Tarkowski and before Toffees’ player could deal with the danger, Igor Jesus pinched the ball. His touch was slightly heavy so Dominguez hit the loose ball first time towards goal from around ten yards out. He looked to be rolling into an open net but Tarkowski got back to clear it off the line.

You might’ve thought that just one moment could get Forest going. You would’ve thought wrong. After that one chance, they allowed Everton to dominate over them as the hosts searched for more goals. Anderson’s sloppy pass was collected by Dewsbury-Hall deep into the Forest half. The Englishman found Grealish to his left. Grealish returned the favour, passing back to Dewsbury-Hall on the edge of the area. His first time finish could only rattle off the left post. Just moments later, Ndiaye cut in from the right before getting a shot off. In that moment, Sels looked tiny in the Forest goal but the Belgian managed to stick out a strong arm to tip it over.

Dewsbury-Hall had been running the show all afternoon and he deserved something for his efforts. He may have thought he wasn’t getting anything but with ten minutes to go he did. Garner’s deep corner from the left was punched clear by Sels. The ‘keeper had many bodies around him so he wasn’t able to make good contact. O’ Brien was alert as he recycled and passed to Dewsbury-Hall to the right of the box. He took on the shot first time and it rolled into the bottom left corner.

It would’ve been a complete lie to say Everton didn’t deserve all three points. That is now four wins in five for them as they climb to 7^th in the table. As for Forest, they need to put in better performances like that if they don’t want the fear of the relegation zone looming.

It was just a day where we didn’t show up. There wasn’t a lot of quality on display in the game from either side but Everton were putting in the hard work as well as being clinical and that is what won them the game. We just never looked ready to compete which is totally unexpected from a Sean Dyche side. Although we were poor and shouldn’t blame officials on that, on replay, the Ndoye - Tarkowski incident looked like a red card offense. Tarkowski went in with force in Ndoye’s back which could’ve really injured him. In a game where no one in red really stood out, I thought Hutchinson still looked bright and positive.

Everton: Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko; Garner, Dewsbury-Hall; Ndiaye, Alcaraz (McNeil 73’), Grealish (Dibling 86’); Barry (Beto 62’)

Forest: Sels; Savona (Abbott 46’), Milenkovic, Morato, Williams; Anderson, Sangare (Yates 46’ (Dominguez 62’)); Ndoye (Hudson-Odoi 46’), Gibbs-White, Hutchinson; Igor Jesus