Analysis: Season-defining week completed with style
Going into their Europa League quarter-final with Porto, Nottingham Forest were entering their season-defining period. Fast forward 10 days and they are in the last four of a European competition for the first time in 42 years having also claimed four crucial points in their battle against relegation. Morgan Gibbs-White's hat-trick was the catalyst against Burnley and Forest's star man produced when his team desperately needed it.
[Getty Images] Going into their Europa League quarter-final with Porto, Nottingham Forest were entering their season-defining period. Fast forward 10 days and they are in the last four of a European competition for the first time in 42 years having also claimed four crucial points in their battle against relegation. Morgan Gibbs-White's hat-trick was the catalyst against Burnley and Forest's star man produced when his team desperately needed it.
This week - after a draw with Aston Villa and the quarter-final second-leg victory over Porto on Thursday - should give Forest the final platform for survival. This win leaves Vitor Pereira's side closing in on safety and still with a chance of European glory. A first home league win since the 3-0 victory over Tottenham in December should also ease the anxiety at the City Ground.
The nerves were evident after Zian Flemming's first-half opener at the end of a wretched first half which lacked intensity and imagination. With the loss of Murillo - who limped on to the pitch to celebrate at the final whistle - Forest's afternoon could have fallen apart. But impressive resilience and recovery rescued them to earn a vital win at the bottom.