Match Report: Fulham 3 - Nottingham Forest 2

Ross McCormack scored a hat-trick to move Fulham into 14th place on the table with a win at home against Nottingham Forest.

Fulham seemed to gain an easy lead during the first half, with Ross McCormack netting in 3 goals in the first half, his first being a left-footed shot from outside of the box in the 7th minute, his second being from the same distance with his right foot, and the third being another right-footed shot, this time deflecting off defender Todd Kane. Alexander Kacaniklic almost scored during the 12th minute, his shot however went straight into the arms of Forest goalie Dorus de Vries.

Forest did manage to bring it back slightly, however. In the first minute of injury time in the first half, Kostas Stafylidis appeared to have fouled Forest winger Michail Antonio. Henri Lansbury then curled the resulting free kick from 20 yards out into the near post, which Fulham goalie Marcus Bettinelli just couldn't save.

There were efforts made from both teams to try and add goals in the second half, with Jack Hobbs getting a shot on target for Forest, the attempt being blocked by Stafylidis. 5 minutes after Bryan Ruiz came on to replace Scott Parker, Fulham found themselves only a goal ahead, as in the 62nd minute, Lansbury made good use of a loose ball, nailing a shot in from 18 yards. A shocking miss that could have equalised the game, Forest striker Britt Assombalonga headed just off target, the cross coming from Stephen McLaughlin. The Reds again almost equalised in the 85th minute, Robert Tesche's header being saved and then fumbled by Marcus Bettinelli, but luckily the ball didn't roll in.

Jack Grimmer was shown the first yellow card of the game in the 83rd minute of the game for his foul on Michail Antonio, while Kacaniklic was booked in injury time for what was apparently 'wasting time', much to the distaste of the home fans. Before that, Cauley Woodrow, who came on to replace Hudo Rodallega in the 76th minute, almost made the game 4-2 after his injury time effort found the back of the net, but unfortunately it was ruled offside.

After almost dropping the lead, the Whites managed to hold on and win the game 3-2, sending them further up the table, away from the bottom, and closer to the playoff spots.