Gibbs-White the difference maker for Forest in vital win over Fulham

Forest move three points clear of Luton after a rampant first-half display inspired by their talisman

When Nottingham Forest required a hero last season in their battle to avoid relegation, up stepped Morgan Gibbs-White.
The £25million signing is emerging as the emblem of hope in their time of need again, producing an outstanding individual performance here to help inch his club further away from the bottom three.
Gibbs-White delivered a fine goal and another assist, coming after his assist in the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace, and the forward is running into form at the business end of the campaign. In an often chaotic encounter, he was the standout performer and how Nuno Espirito Santo needs his star players to lead from the front in this fight for survival.
After being deducted four points by the Premier League for breaching financial rules, every game has an added layer of pressure. Yet this victory lifts them three points above 18th placed Luton Town, who face Arsenal away on Wednesday, and Gibbs-White is proving the talisman.
Nuno said: “Morgan is a very special player for us, very important and talented. The work rate he has on the pitch, there is a lot of hard work behind from him. Perfection is hard to achieve but we have to keep pursuing it. Let’s ignore the noise and try to do our job.
“We know it was important for us today, but let’s not get over the moon. There is still a long way to go.”
Forest’s survival mission is proving a rollercoaster – here they were excellent in the first half and then often panic-stricken in the second, as Fulham provided their manager Marco Silva with another tale of the unexpected.
This is the same Fulham who defeated Manchester United at Old Trafford just a little over five weeks ago. They have also beaten Tottenham and Arsenal, yet also lost to Burnley and Bournemouth. Here was another result to add to the confusion for Silva, who was so frustrated that he made a triple substitution on 33 minutes. 
Fulham with a triple substitution after just 30 minutes… 😳📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/MlmPL3qhn7
Despite a dramatically improved second half performance, Fulham could not repeat their heroics of Saturday when they secured a comeback draw at Sheffield United.
“It was a bad performance and a disappointing evening for us,” said Silva. “When I made the changes, we needed more than just three. It was not the fault of the three, it was a tactical change. When you perform the way we did you are always going to be punished. This is the first time in the long journey that this has happened [the triple subs], and it cannot happen again.”
What an evening it proved for Evangelos Marinakis, the Forest owner. He was in attendance and will have some excruciating memories from the last meeting with Fulham. In December, Forest were thrashed 5-0 at Craven Cottage as Steve Cooper’s tenure inched closer to its end.
Before the final whistle that night, Marinakis stormed out of the director’s box and his lanyard accreditation was found in the bushes of a house outside the stadium. He will have found this result far more enjoyable, with last season’s marquee signing Gibbs-White proving so influential.
While there has been much scrutiny on Marinakis’s spending since Forest’s return to the top division, that outlay on Gibbs-White appears increasingly shrewd. So too does the £3m paid for Callum Hudson-Odoi. Signed from Chelsea last year, the England international produced an impressive individual goal after nine minutes, following a brilliant pass from Gibbs-White.
Callum Hudson-Odoi expertly gives Nottingham Forest the lead! 🔥📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/rMSWfGyuX4
Chris Wood extended the home team’s lead in the 20th minute, turning 25 yards from goal to place the ball to the right of Bernd Leno.
Moments later, Anthony Elanga struck the post after another rapid break and Silva had seen enough. In the 33rd minute he brought on substitutes Willian, Tom Cairney and Adama Traore. He would probably have made another five changes if the rules allowed it.
There was a brief improvement, but Forest added a third goal in added time through Gibbs-White.
Game over? Not quite yet. Four minutes into the second half Fulham finally responded, with Tosin Adarabioyo rising to loop Andreas Pereira’s corner over Matz Sels.
Suddenly, the City Ground became jumpy and Fulham sensed it. Sels was required to deny Adarabioyo a second goal before Tete headed against the crossbar.
Yet as time ticked away, Forest managed to regain a foothold and four points in two home matches represents a healthy return.