Nuno Espirito Santo’s debut in the Nottingham Forest dugout ended in heartbreak as Bournemouth secured a pulsating 3-2 Premier League win over the 10-man Tricky Trees at the City Ground.
Despite efforts from Anthony Elanga and Chris Wood seemingly rescuing a point for the hosts, Dominic Solanke’s brilliant hat-trick, including an injury-time header, left Nottingham Forest crestfallen.
Despite an early onslaught from Nottingham Forest, with Wood and Elanga testing Neto, Bournemouth weathered the storm and started posing threats. In the 14th minute, the red-hot Dominic Solanke came close to opening the scoring but narrowly missed the near post.
Controversy emerged at the City Ground as, with 24 minutes gone, Willy Boly, who had already been booked in the first five minutes, received a red card for a challenge on Adam Smith. While Boly’s tackle was mostly clean, the referee deemed it worthy of a red card, and Nuno Espirito Santo responded by substituting Divock Origi for Moussa Niakhate. Lewis Cook’s injury led to an early change for Bournemouth, with Alex Scott coming on.
In the 37th minute, there was a potential penalty shout for Forest as Smith blocked a Harry Toffolo cross with his outstretched arm. VAR couldn’t definitively determine whether the arm was inside or outside the box. Despite Forest holding out until halftime, the under-fire referee, Rob Jones, faced boos from the crowd.
The City Ground’s elation returned two minutes into the second half when Chris Wood set up Anthony Elanga, and his first-time strike found the bottom corner. However, the joy was short-lived as Marcos Senesi delivered a sublime cross for Dominic Solanke four minutes later, and his looping header sailed over Matt Turner into the side of the net, securing his ninth top-flight goal of the season.
Dominic Solanke continued his impressive form, scoring his second goal of the match just seven minutes after his first. Billing’s header fell kindly for Solanke, who exploited an unawares Forest backline to slide home into the bottom corner, reaching double figures for the Premier League campaign.
In the 74th minute, 10-man Forest drew level as Chris Wood’s header from a Gibbs-White corner somehow found its way into the net. Forest continued to press, with Gibbs-White’s curler cleared off the line by Ouattara in the 81st minute, moments before Bournemouth hit the post through David Brooks.
As the match seemed destined for a draw, Solanke secured his hat-trick in injury time, meeting a Smith delivery with a stunning header from 12 yards. The Forest goalkeeper could only push Solanke’s header into the roof of the net, sealing Bournemouth’s fifth win from six games and lifting them to 11th place. Nuno Espirito Santo’s Forest, on the other hand, are now just two points clear of the relegation zone in 17th.
Both teams will have Boxing Day fixtures, with Forest hosting Newcastle United at the City Ground, and Bournemouth welcoming Fulham on the South Coast.