Speaking after his Nottingham Forest side put seven unanswered goals past Brighton at the City Ground, Nuno Espirito Santo told the BBC that the hosts were “fortunate to score first” in a frenetic first half display.
Just 12 minutes had passed on the banks of the Trent when Lewis Dunk inadvertently turned home from Morgan Gibbs-White’s delivery into the area, and the Forest boss accepted that “we were ready and very fortunate to score first. It was an own goal, but a good movement from Morgan as he stepped into the box and had a good delivery.”
Saturday’s victory was a crucial one for Nottingham Forest, who needed to bounce back from last weekend’s 5-0 defeat at AFC Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium – but even Espirito Santo admitted that “the players’ response on the pitch was beyond our expectations.”
“We were concerned, we wanted to put it right because last week was not good enough and they were aware of that. The response was great,” he told the BBC, adding that “it was beautiful to see the atmosphere at the City Ground as seeing our fans happy is what we work for. At the same time, seeing our players, the way they celebrate the other players’ goals – it is important for us that we keep this team spirit.”
But in his post-match press conference, the Portuguese manager conceded that a hefty scoreline isn’t enough to shift any doubts about his side’s ability to consistently compete at the top of the Premier League table.
“The questions and the doubts will always be present. We have to deal with that. We got beat last week and today we got up and showed. If it didn’t happen, our obligation was to go again in the next one and the next one until we get it right. This is how we should think, because not every day is going to be like today,” he told reporters.
“It is so different, what happened last week and what happened today. I would rather be in the middle of it – not so high and not so low, if we can be stable and sustain our levels. But it is so hard and so competitive.”
“In a very short period of time, we have been on both sides of one. When we were on the other side, we felt how difficult it was when your opponent is ruthless like we were today,” he acknowledged.
Nottingham Forest are next in action on Tuesday as they travel to Exeter City in the Emirates FA Cup, before heading to London to face Fulham in the Premier League next Saturday.