THE RISE and rise of Nuno Espirito Santo’s side just got more spectacular thanks to fine strikes from Chris Wood and Morgan Gibbs-White.
Their goals produced a Nottingham Forest record – the first time in the Premier League era that they have won five games in a row.
The Tricky Trees also occupy a stunning second place in the table.
The surprise team of the season might not still be there by the end of the night but even getting that high halfway through the season remains a massive testament to the way Nuno has made them very real Champions League candidates.
He had to deal with what looked like a major blow after defensive rock Murillo was forced to pull out in the warm up.
Winger Ramon Sosa replaced him with midfielder Nico Williams dropping to left-back in a rebuild back-four.
But no problem. Forest’s players are a proper unit, composed, hardworking and, above all, believers.
And no supporter of the club would be surprised if Nuno were to walk across the River Trent.
The reincarnation of Brian Clough he may not be but still, that’s how much those fans believe in him too in his bid to bring back the glory days of “Ol Big Head.”
The rear guard that actually suffered from the start was Everton’s – no thanks to sloppy work from the midfield ahead of them – and they never got over it.
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James Tarkowski picked up an eighth-minute yellow card for flying through Sosa after losing control of the ball then twice lost Wood, the Kiwi firing wide from decent positions both times.
But even in those opening moments it was clear the big striker fancied his chances and in the 15th minute he proved it.
Once again the home side lost the ball in a failed attacking scramble and Gibbs-White didn’t hesitate.
He went instant and long, finding Wood with a 40-yard pass but if that part of the move was basic what followed was poetic.
The striker headed sideways to Anthony Elanga who replied in kind as Jordan Pickford dashed off his line and clipped a right-footed volley perfectly over the advancing England No1.
That was his 11th strike of the season and the numbers looked good in a different way too.
Forest scored first 14 times in this campaign before arriving at Goodison Park and won nine of those games.
They absolutely deserved to be ahead, too against a Sean Dyche side that other than a brief early spurt from the electric Iliman Ndiaye had started flat and formless.
Their approach will have mystified home fans given that the Toffees should have been on something of a high after navigating their way to three successive draws against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City.
The Merseysiders had lost only one of their last seven games and Dyche attempted to perk them up further by replacing Dominic Calvert-Lewin – no goals in 13 straight games – with Armando Broja.
Yet in his first start the bustling Albania international, on loan from Chelsea, became a bit like the striker dumped to the bench – a passenger looking on as his team-mates struggled to put a footprint on the game.
Forest spent the first half showing exactly why making it to the Champions League is now much more than a dream no Tricky Trees fan would have had at the start of the campaign.
They may not be the prettiest team to watch, although that Wood goal was a stunner.
But Nuno has them organised, sure of themselves and they can break brilliantly.
That loss of Murillo in the warm-up didn’t disturb them nor did the absence of skipper Ryan Yates.
Meanwhile Dyche’s players, the resourceful Ndiaye apart, just try to grind their way through games with little or no art.
They were completely bereft of ideas during a first half that really only underlined that new owners The Friedkin Group have to come up with some transfer dosh next month to bring in badly-needed new inspiration.
Dyche replaced Jack Harrison, one of those guilty of ceding possession, for another winger in Jesper Lindstrom but his side looked no less desperate.
And Jarrad Branthwaite got very lucky in the 54th minute.
He dived into a challenge on Gibbs-White, wearing the armband with Yates suspended, and while the centre-half missed connection with his left leg he clattered into the playmaker with his right.
The fact that he got some of the ball prompted referee Tony Harrington to brandish only a yellow but the defender will still have breathed a sigh of relief.
No such luck for his manager Dyche as Gibbs-White produced the killer blow and while his 61st minute finish was impeccable it came only as a result of more tawdry work by the Toffees.
Abdoulaye Doucoure mindlessly gifted Elanga possession 30 yards out and the former Manchester United attacker immediately found Wood on the edge of the box.
He despatched rapidly across to Gibbs-White who coolly side-stepped a desperate bid for salvation from Doucoure to leave Pickford for dead from ten yards.
It could have got worse for the keeper too after he spilled a shot from Sosa before saving his blushes with a double save.
But it was never going to get any better for him and his team that took 81 minutes to get a shot on target.
They simply got lost amongst those Tricky Trees.
