Last-gasp Abdoulaye Doucoure winner dents Nottingham Forest’s Champions League hopes

Nottingham Forest 0-1 Everton: Doucoure scored on the counter-attack to earn the visitors a 1-0 victory

Abdoulaye Doucoure snatched victory at the last for Everton (PA)

Abdoulaye Doucoure’s last-minute winner for Everton dealt a big blow to Nottingham Forest’s Champions League hopes.

Forest already looked like having a disappointing day as they were being held by David Moyes’ side, but it got even worse in the fourth minute of time added on when Doucoure scored on the counter-attack to earn his side a 1-0 victory at the City Ground.

It was as much as they deserved as they were the better team and sees them win for the first time since mid-February.

Forest could have edged closer to guaranteeing their position in the Premier League top five, but the signs suggest they are getting nervy with the finish line in sight.

They followed up last week’s 2-1 loss at Aston Villa with a first home defeat since November.

A point could have ended up being a good result, given the level of their display, but with Manchester City and Aston Villa winning and Chelsea and Newcastle able to make up ground on Sunday, their cushion to sixth place could be cut to just three points by the end of the weekend.

The Toffees are undoubtedly a difficult side to play against as their revival under Moyes continues.

This is a game that will not live long in the memory. Indeed, the opening 45 minutes did little to contradict this week’s narrative that the Premier League is becoming boring as a scrappy, niggly and dull affair unfolded.

Abdoulaye Doucoure sent the travelling Everton fans into raptures (Getty Images)

Forest were cumbersome and unusually poor in the transitions, meaning they carried little attacking threat and it was Everton who looked the more dangerous.

They closest they came in the first half was when Jack Harrison slipped James Garner in but the midfielder’s low shot was well saved by Matz Sels.

Forest did pick up before the break as Morgan Gibbs-White flashed an effort wide from distance before Callum Hudson-Odoi fired straight at Jordan Pickford after cutting in from the left.

The second half was an improvement as the game finally opened up.

Hudson-Odoi was again denied by Pickford with a similar effort before Iliman Ndiaye had Everton’s best chance in the 55th minute.

He timed his run to perfection to get on the end of James Tarkowski’s long ball but his shot was blocked by Sels as he closed in on goal.

Everton enjoyed a dominant spell, though lacked the quality to create any clear-cut chances, with Doucoure’s shot blocked by Neco Williams and Harrison whistled over on the turn.

Just as it looked to be heading for stalemate, Everton stole it at the death.

After defending a free-kick deep in their own half, Murillo was tackled on the halfway line by Dwight McNeil and he picked out Doucoure at the far post, with the French midfielder doing the rest to break Forest hearts.

PA