Nottingham Forest moved closer to the Europa League round of 16 after a commanding 3–0 victory over Fenerbahce in the first leg of their play-off tie.
Forest delivered a dominant performance in Turkiye, with goals from Murillo, Igor Jesus and Morgan Gibbs-White giving new head coach Vitor Pereira a perfect start and allowing him to rest key players late in the match.
Fenerbahce threatened early on when Mert Muldur headed over the bar, but it was Forest who struck first. In the 21st minute, Murillo produced a moment of brilliance, dribbling past defenders before firing a long-range shot into the bottom-right corner.
The hosts thought they had a penalty when the ball struck Murillo’s arm, but a VAR review showed his arm was by his side, and the appeal was waved away.
Their frustration grew just before halftime when Jesus headed in from close range after Gibbs-White flicked on a corner.
Five minutes into the second half, the roles were reversed. Jesus squared the ball to Gibbs-White inside the box, and the England international managed to squeeze his effort through the goalkeeper’s legs despite losing his balance.
Fenerbahce tried to respond, but Stefan Ortega comfortably dealt with Marco Asensio’s attempt, while Callum Hudson-Odoi was denied at the other end as Forest preserved their three-goal cushion ahead of the return leg at the City Ground.
Forest’s superiority was reflected in the numbers. They generated 2.86 expected goals from 23 shots, compared to Fenerbahce’s 0.48 from just six attempts.
Jesus continued his impressive European form, taking his tally to seven goals in the competition this season, the most ever by a Forest player in a single major European campaign and the highest total in the 2025-26 Europa League so far.
He contributed 1.23 of Forest’s expected goals from three shots and also registered an assist before being substituted in the 61st minute.
