Nottingham Forest scored four goals, secured three points and set up two eye-opening potential opponents as they thumped Hungarian side Ferencváros 4-0 at the City Ground, making the Europa League look far easier than it has done for much of the past four months. George Edwards was at the match
While rain teamed down in Braga last week and Nottingham Forest’s automatic qualification hopes were flushed away, the club looked at rock bottom.
Yet fast forward a week later, Forest now have 10 points from their last 15 games and look solid at the back, with positivity mounting and momentum slowly growing.
In truth, Robbie Keane’s Ferencváros looked no better than Braga did, even posing more of an attacking threat on the night, mirrored by both teams sitting two places apart pre-match.
The difference was Forest themselves. The team that played Braga looked lacklustre and strung together, lacking cohesion and relatability, with just four starters remaining from the game before against Arsenal.
However, from the get-go last night Forest were at it, Sean Dyche surprisingly making just five changes from the win at Brentford, despite their place in the play-offs being in no doubt of changing.
He struck the balance just right — maintaining a spine of in-form and consistent performers, supplementing them with those fighting for a place and with something to prove, generating thrust and momentum from the first whistle.
Being on home soil may have helped, despite a rather empty City Ground vocalised only by the travelling Hungarians, until the Reds etched ahead after 17 minutes. The opener proved their intensity, as Ryan Yates overwhelmed his man to dispossess, receiving the ball from James MacAtee before his driven ball across the box was turned in by visitors’ defender Bence Otvos.
Forest were up for the fight, overpowering their opponents in strength and pace throughout; the basics of football that they have shown in inconsistent quantities as they have grappled with domestic and European challenges this season.
Somebody who has risen to the European challenge better than most is Igor Jesus, notching his fifth and sixth Europa League goals on Forest’s way to victory.
Both strikes proved his growing confidence in front of goal — four goals in four now for the Brazilian, delivering just as serious competition in the forms of Lorenzo Lucca and potentially Jean-Philippe Mateta arrive.
Three… pic.twitter.com/YpUof0VuVS
— The Famous Club (@TheFamousCIub) January 29, 2026
Jesus shot early on both occasions, conveying the assurance he has in his actions and the split-second decision-making elite-level number nines must exhibit. His performance elucidated a huge reason Forest fell short at Braga, with no striker available or eligible to play leaving winger Dan Ndoye down the middle chasing various lost causes throughout the night.
Ndoye himself grasped the chance he got, as did McAtee, two players who have consistently been rewarded with minutes in cup competitions despite failing to deliver.
Ndoye was direct, shimmying inside and around his fullback on multiple occasions, yet lacking end-product as he often has in a red shirt. McAtee stood out, getting stuck in and finding space, contrasting times this season where he’s gone missing, finally unlocking the quality it felt was always bound to show at some stage.
The 23-year-old was given the perfect chance to round off his best performance in a Forest shirt with his first goal in the 90th minute, as Morgan Gibbs-White (perhaps relievingly) stepped aside to allow the midfielder to sweep home from the penalty spot, following Ndoye being pulled to the floor in the box.
The 4-0 scoreline perfectly reflected Forest’s dominance in the game, despite Matz Sels having to be alert to make a good save on the cusp of half-time, as the hosts bossed every stat and dominated every area.
The Premier League’s superiority in Europe was proven in the Champions League on Wednesday night, five of the top eight being from England with Newcastle falling short by just two points. Yet that seeming ease hasn’t been replicated by Nottingham Forest in the Europa League.
The Reds weren’t expected to be in Europe this season, so while recruitment had to happen, success from that cannot be bred overnight and a balance had to be struck between rotation and consistency.
Ibrahim Sangaré proved that in abundance. Assisting Jesus’s second with a killer ball through, bossing the midfield — along with a second-half resurgence from Yates — and being the calming influence in midfield, firmly stamping his place as one of Forest’s key men this season.
The victory and a final league placing of 13th means Forest will either face Turkish side Fenerbahçe or Greek outfit Panathinanikos, a side who compete in the ‘Derby of the Eternal Enemies’ against none other than Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis’s Olympiacos.
The draw, in a few hours’ time, will determine which — two tasty and hostile European ties will signify the end of the Europa League experiment. Forest must give the competition respect, and they must decide who has the stomach to perform when it counts over two legs, now less than three weeks away from writing the next chapter in their continental adventure.
By then, they could be comfortably clear of the Premier League relegation zone, with crucial games against Crystal Palace, Leeds United and Wolves on the horizon giving them the opportunity to extend their growing momentum and resurrect a season of turmoil.
Follow The Famous Club on:
Bluesky | Facebook | Flipboard | Google News | Instagram | Reddit | Threads | WhatsApp | X (Twitter)
