Nottingham Forest and Everton faced off in a crucial Premier League match at the City Ground, with both teams desperate for points for different reasons. Despite both teams averaging less than a goal per league game so far in the 2022/23 season, the match saw both teams score in the first half.
Everton drew first blood just ten minutes into the game, with Demarai Gray converting a penalty after Dwight McNeil was fouled inside the box by Jonjo Shelvey.
However, Nottingham Forest responded quickly, with Brennan Johnson equalizing just nine minutes later by steering home Morgan Gibbs-White’s rebounded effort past Jordan Pickford.
Abdoulaye Doucouré restored Everton’s lead midway through the first half with a close-range header, but the second half was a scrappier affair. Despite Everton’s valiant defense, Johnson was able to break through and score his second goal of the match, earning Forest a deserved point.
Johnson’s impressive performance almost earned him a hat-trick, but his curling right-footed effort sailed over the crossbar. Forest’s unbeaten home run now stretches to nine matches, while Everton’s survival hopes are dented yet again. With six of their next seven matches against top-half opposition, Everton’s first relegation to the second tier of English football since the 1950s seems ever more likely.
