Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo insisted his side have not yet achieved anything despite moving up to second in the Premier League with victory over Everton.
Forest secured their first top-flight victory over Everton since 1999 with a 2–0 victory at Goodison Park, with goals in either half from Chris Wood and Morgan Gibbs-White sealing the victory.
They have now won each of their last five Premier League games, the longest winning streak in the competition since a run of five between March and April 1995.
Nuno's side continue to exceed expectations this season and have already surpassed their full season points total for the 2023/24 season after just 19 games.
But the Forest boss was keen to temper Champions League qualification expectations and warned his players there is work to be done despite temporarily surpassing Chelsea and Arsenal in the standings.
“We are competing very well, especially in this match. It was very tough and both teams had a very short rest period,” Nuno told BBC MOTD.
“We were organized and really committed to helping each other and then we made good use of the space Everton gave us.
“We had to make a change [to our line-up] just before the match. It was a moment to reset, reorganize and try something different. The players understood it well.
“It's confidence, belief and knowledge that you need composure in the final third. They scored beautiful goals.
“But it doesn't mean anything. We haven't achieved anything yet.”
Goalscorer Wood echoed his manager's thoughts after the New Zealand international scored his 11th Premier League goal of the season on Sunday.
He has now scored 22 top-flight goals under Nuno, the most by a Forest player under a manager, along with Stan Collymore for Frank Clark (22 in 37 games).
“It's fun [to be second]but we don't worry about that. We have to stay focused on what we are doing and take it one game at a time,” Wood told BBC Radio 5 Live.
For Everton and Sean Dyche, however, their four-match unbeaten run came to an end, dropping them to 16th in the table, but still three points clear of the bottom three.
The Toffees registered just 132 shots on target and scored 31 goals in the Premier League in 2024, the fewest ever for the club this calendar year, while only Wolves (39.7) scored lower expected goals (xG) than Everton (41.8) . those sides.
Everton are also now winless in their last Premier League game of the year in each of the last four years (D2 L2).
Dyche lamented his side's inability to break Forest's compact defense despite managing to keep out Arsenal and Chelsea in recent weeks.
“We couldn't make it happen anywhere in the first half, and they did that,” Dyche said.
“They've done that to other teams this season. It's hard to break down a crowded defense when they're right in front.
“I don't think they had too many chances, but a crowded defense is difficult to break. Overall, we didn't ask enough questions against a team that is good at finishing a game.”
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