Nuno Espirito Santo says he is "immensely proud" of his Nottingham Forest team after they went SECOND in the Premier League table on Sunday.
Forest won 2-0 at Goodison Park thanks to goals from Chris Wood and Morgan Gibbs-White, beating a Toffees side who were unbeaten in four consecutive matches, the last three of which were against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City.
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But Forest won comfortably to pick up a fifth consecutive Premier League win for the first time since 1995 as their fans continue to dream of a top-four finish and maybe even a title challenge.
"I'm very happy. It's a tough place to come," Nuno said in his post-match press conference. "Everton are so aggressive, so direct. We scored a beautiful goal, we were dominant in the boxes, we could have scored more!
"I'm immensely proud. Especially when you see your player in the 90th minute miss a chance and run back and recovers the ball."
On his bond with the Forest fans, he added: "We're enjoying it. Especially because our fans are enjoying it with us. This is what we have to do together. Let's enjoy the journey. Happy New Year to everybody! The bond is growing. I felt it in the last game at home. We know they're there for us."
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
18 | +28 | 45 |
| 2 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
19 | +7 | 37 |
| 3 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
19 | +18 | 36 |
| 4 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
19 | +15 | 35 |
| 5 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
19 | +11 | 32 |
| 6 |
Man City
MCI
|
19 | +6 | 31 |
This is the first time Forest have gone second in the table since October 1994 - they went on to finish third that season, their highest-ever Premier League finish.
They are eight points behind current Premier League leaders Liverpool, who play Manchester United next, while Forest face Nuno's former team, Wolves.
Forest and Liverpool then go head-to-head at the City Ground on 14 January.
If Forest win their next two and Liverpool lose at home to Man Utd and then Forest, Nuno’s side could be two points off top spot in mid-January.
Forest and Liverpool's fixtures
It's a throwback to the 1970s and 80s, when Forest were regular challengers at the top of Division 1.
Forest won the First Division title in 1978 with Liverpool coming second, while the final league positions were reversed a year later.
In 1979, under iconic manager Brian Clough, they won the European Cup (now known as the UEFA Champions League), and incredibly retained it the following campaign. They have not competed in the competition since 1980/81 but Nuno has them dreaming of a return in 2025/26.
Some key facts of Forest's fine form
Chris Wood scored his 11th goal of the Premier League season at Everton. Only Mohamed Salah (17), Erling Haaland (14) and Cole Palmer (12) have more.
Wood has scored 22 Premier League goals under Nuno, the joint most by a Forest player under a manager, along with Stan Collymore for Frank Clark (22 in 37 games).
Forest have conceded only 19 goals in 19 matches. Only Arsenal (16) and Liverpool (17) have let in fewer goals this season.
Goalkeeper Matz Sels has eight clean sheets this season, leading the race for the Golden Glove.