Doucoure's 94th Minute Winner Sent The Toffees Into Pandemonium!

A last-gasp counterattack for the Toffees, after some high pressing from substitute Dwight McNeil, was struck into the back of the net in the 94th minute to confirm Nottingham Forest’s first home defeat since November 2024.

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Lineups:

Nottingham Forest:

Sels

Williams

Milenković

Murillo

Moreno

Domínguez

Anderson

Gibbs-White

Jota

Hudson-Odoi

Wood

Everton:

Pickford

O’Brien

Tarkowski

Branthwaite

Mykolenko

Gana

Garner

Harrison

Doucoure

Ndiaye

Broja

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Going into the fixture, the pressure was all on Nottingham Forest. Edging closer and closer each week to a successful season, exceeding most people’s expectations by qualifying for the UEFA Champions League. For Nuno Espírito Santo, this was another huge opportunity to expand on the potential, especially due to the fact a fifth-place position for the Champions League has opened up, with the Forest manager stating that "It's in our hands. It opens one more space so there are more contenders, but for us it doesn't change anything. Our approach will be the same. I think we have a great opportunity to achieve something great." Also, Forest had not let a goal in at home for four games, looking to make it five, but it is safe to say that was not the case…

From minute one, Everton were on top. The introduction of Albanian attacker Armando Broja up top was a sight Toffees would be pleased to see, as mathematical safety from the drop is inbound; now is a good time for David Moyes to begin experimenting with players, reviewing strengths and weaknesses, and taking this overview as a starting point for the huge transition necessary this summer transfer window. Adding onto this, it is fair to say that Broja was a threat up there in that number 9 role, perhaps giving healthy competition to both Portuguese strikers Beto and Yourself Chermiti, especially if the club decides to take the 23-year-old on for another season or perhaps as a permanent signing, although unlucky due to Broja’s track record with injuries.

The first piece of real action came 25 minutes into the game when Jack Harrison played a through ball in between both Alex Moreno and Nicolas Dominguez into the Nottingham Forest penalty area into the path of Everton midfielder James Garner. A first-time shot that looked like it was heading into the opposite bottom left-hand corner was saved by Belgian goalkeeper Matz Sels. Throughout the first half, there were a few key saves by England and Everton's first-choice goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford, although a reasonable, easy save; perfect positioning was required as Nottingham Forest winger Callum Hudson-Odoi cut in on the left-hand side, striking a classic winger’s finesse shot, forcing Pickford to palm the ball away.

In the second half, Everton had a few chances and a couple of potential penalty chances too! The interval ended, and the half started with a long ball by James Tarkowski into the path of Senegalese midfielder Iliman Ndiaye, playing his run perfectly past the Forest defensive line. Unfortunately, Ndiaye’s touch wasn’t good enough, as it was extremely difficult with the short space between the defence and the pressing goalkeeper, and a fluffed shot aimed in between Selz's legs didn’t have enough venom on it to travel through, meaning the chance was unfortunately scuffed. Not long after, following an Everton free kick that was headed away by Ryan Yates, moments after, he followed through with a duel for the ball with Carlos Alcaraz. However, this was quickly dismissed by referee Craig Pawson. The next Everton opportunity included another potential penalty shout when a through ball was played into the path of Beto, who was earlier substituted on for Armando Broja; it looked like Brazilian defender Murillo caught the 27-year-old, forcing him to the floor. This time the shout went to VAR; unfortunately for Moyes and the approximately 2000 Evertonians that made the trip to the City Ground, the infield decision of no penalty remained.

It was now quite a while into the 5 minutes of additional time, and Idrissa Gana Gueye, who won player of the match on Everton’s X account after the full-time whistle was blown, was still pressing the Forest defence, forcing a dodgy pass from Alex Moreno into the path of Murillo, who took the ball with a really dodgy touch, allowing a 50/50 with Dwight McNeil, with the Everton winger coming out on top. A pinpoint perfect pass into the path of a counter-attacking Abdoulaye Docuoure after an impressive run meant the Mali midfielder was one-on-one versus Mats Selz. Taking it the first time, with no one around, the 32-year-old Doucouré smashed it near post, flying past the goalkeeper and sending the Evertonians in attendance into pandemonium, limbs in the away end, celebrating by pointing at the name on the back of his shirt and writing a contract on his palm, as the midfielder is out of contract this summer, and it has been confirmed that he will not be receiving the one-year contract extension that was negotiable as part of Doucouré’s current contract.

Abdoulaye Doucouré’s finish was the pinnacle of the fixture, handing the Toffees three points, moving Everton up to 14th place for now, and applying a bundle of pressure for Forest to perform well for the rest of the season if they want to qualify for the Champions League come the end of the season.

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Premier League Matchweek 32:

Saturday 12th April:

Man City 5-2 Crystal Palace

Brighton 2-2 Leicester City

Nottingham Forest 0-1 Everton

Southampton 0-3 Aston Villa

Arsenal 1-1 Brentford

Sunday 13th April:

Chelsea 14:00 Ipswich Town

Liverpool 14:00 West Ham United

Wolves 14:00 Tottenham

Newcastle 16:30 Manchester United

Monday 14th April:

Bournemouth 20:00 Fulham

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Thank you for reading my pre-match article!