Nottingham Forest player ratings vs Bournemouth: Murillo struggles but one star delivers a 2/10 disaster-class

01/25/2025 12:01 PM

Nottingham Forest travelled to the south coast to face Bournemouth on Saturday, in a clash between two of the most in-form sides in the Premier League.

Forest’s 3-2 win over Southampton was marred by Callum Hudson-Odoi picking up an injury at the City Ground, meaning Jota Silva stepped up to play on the wing against Bournemouth.

Androni Iraola was wary of Forest’s away record going into the game, as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side had only lost two of their Premier League away games this season.

However, the Forest manager would’ve been incredibly disappointed at how the game started as Justin Kluivert fired past Matz Sels to give the hosts the lead at the halftime break.

Nicolas Dominguez replaced Ryan Yates at halftime but any positive impact Espirito Santo hoped this would have was quickly dissipated as Dango Ouattara doubled Bournemouth’s lead.

Kluivert thought he had a second but VAR spared the Forest squad’s blushes, only momentarily though as Ouattara scored Bournemouth’s third to seal Forest’s fate.

With the game petering out, Sels flapped at a strike from distance to give Ouattara his hattrick and see Forest concede four for the first time this season, followed swiftly by Antoine Semenyo’s stoppage-time strike to make it five.

Matz Sels – 4

The Belgian keeper could do very little about Kluivert’s opener and would’ve been very disappointed by his defence’s lack of closing down. However, his poor save from a late strike gifted Ouattara a fourth goal.

Neco Williams – 5

Bournemouth’s penetration through the centre of the pitch almost bypassed Williams, but he couldn’t offer any positivity going forward to support the frontline.

Murillo – 3

A display that nobody could’ve predicted, Murillo was no match for Ouattara up front for Bournemouth and was outmuscled for both of the striker’s goals. Hopefully just an anomaly for the Brazilian.

Nikola Milenkovic – 4

Less immediately at fault than Murillo, Milenkovic did have a chance to give Forest a way back into the game early in the second half with a header but he failed to convert.

Ola Aina – 5

Aina was one of the closer players to Kluivert which made his decision not to close down the Dutchman confusing.

Ryan Yates – 3

The Forest captain looked to be struggling to match the pace of the game as Bournemouth’s high-intensity sprints left him unable to compete in the midfield before being subbed at halftime.

Elliot Anderson – 4

Given the lack of attacking threat in the whole side, Anderson can only be judged on his defensive display where he struggled alongside Yates and then Dominguez.

Anthony Elanga – 7

After having a chance in the opening minute, it became clear that Elanga’s pace was Forest’s greatest weapon in the game but he just wasn’t found enough by his teammates.

Morgan Gibbs-White – 4

Gibbs-White had a presentable chance at 0-0 with a volley from the edge of the box in his only contribution to the game, who knows what could’ve been if that went in.

Jota Silva – 2

Brought in to replace the injured Hudson-Odoi, Silva lacked the direct threat that the Englishman offered which left Elanga to be the only outlet against the possession-hungry Bournemouth.

His afternoon didn’t improve in the second half, picking up a yellow card before being replaced by Ramon Sosa.

Chris Wood – 5

Any Forest fan will know the sort of game that suits Wood’s game and this wasn’t one of them as his supporting teammates couldn’t provide him with goalscoring opportunities.

Substitutes

Nicolas Dominguez – 5

Struggled just as much as Yates and Anderson to deal with the rampant Bournemouth runs.

Morato – 5

Couldn’t sure up an unexpectedly leaky Forest defence.

Alex Moreno – 5

Took over from Williams and offered little going forward just as his counterpart had, he wasn’t tested defensively however unlike his fellow defenders.

Ramon Sosa – 4

It’s difficult to judge any of Forest’s attackers against Bournemouth but he did little to change the game after replacing Silva.

Taiwo Awoniyi – 5

The game was beyond the Nigerian striker when he entered the pitch replacing Gibbs-White.