Sean Dyche's return to his former club ends in defeat as Everton beat Nottingham Forest 3-0.

Sean Dyche would not have recognised Everton on his return to the club he saved from relegation and possible administration not so long ago. The former Everton manager was greeted by plush new surroundings, a contented fanbase and a vibrant, confident opponent as the homes rose to fifth in the Premier League with a comfortable defeat of Nottingham Forest. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall produced another immaculate performance in the heart of Everton’s midfield as a fourth win in five games reinforced the advances made since David Moyes replaced Dyche in January. Dewsbury-Hall forced the first goal and scored the third, with Thierno Barry finally getting off the mark to wild acclaim in-between. Forest were subdued and second-best throughout. Continue reading...

Until the 72nd minute, when Nottingham Forest’s Igor Jesus jumped high in the box to head in the only goal, this low-rent contest lurched between the laborious and the ludicrous. There was an excruciating VAR delay of more than five minutes to disallow the Brazil striker’s first-half header and in the second another needless stoppage for another VAR review to confirm Ryan Yates was about a yard offside amid a check for a penalty. “It’s not football any more,” bellowed the South Bank, though the locals have felt disillusioned with Wolves for quite some time. When the match-winning moment arrived for Igor Jesus, he took his chance superbly, leaping above Emmanuel Agbadou and beating to the punch the Wolves goalkeeper, Sam Johnstone, who flew erratically from his goal to clear. The cross was a beauty, too: Omari Hutchinson, on his first league start for Forest, cutting inside on to his left foot and sending a delicious cross into the box. Igor Jesus’s disallowed goal also stemmed from a Hutchinson cross, albeit a corner, but an offside Dan Ndoye was deemed to be impeding Johnstone. Continue reading...

It seemed fitting that a left-back playing on the wing set great innovators Brighton on their way to fifth. Maxim De Cuyper opened the scoring as the Seagulls enacted revenge on Nottingham Forest for last season’s 7-0 defeat on a bitingly cold day. Forest had their chances to equalise, something that seemed unlikely after a dreadful opening quarter of uncharacteristic lethargic play. Brighton failed to make the most of their early dominance count but Stefanos Tzimas removed the nerves late on. Continue reading...

Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe says that his side's 4-1 win over Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium is a big step forward in improving their away form.

Newcastle United goalkeeper Nick Pope has made a couple of costly errors recently and "all options are on the table" ahead of the trip to Everton, according to boss Eddie Howe.

“Champions of Europe, you’ll never sing that,” came the chant as Nottingham Forest supporters, not for the first time, enjoyed getting one over on Malmö. A lot has happened since Trevor Francis’s stooping header to clinch the European Cup in Munich in 1979 but Forest still cherish those days. A lot has also changed in the five weeks since Sean Dyche took the reins, Forest reinvigorated and a comfortable win thanks to goals by Arnaud Kalimuendo, Ryan Yates and Nikola Milenkovic enhanced their hope of qualifying for the Europa League knockout phase. For Forest, this victory – against a Malmö side that had not played for almost three weeks after finishing sixth in their domestic league – represented a third straight win in all competitions and further built on the momentum gained from last weekend’s success at Liverpool. This was a re-run of Forest’s European Cup triumph in name but the game itself was free of any jeopardy or jitters. Continue reading...

Newcastle United are to launch a complaint following the "unacceptable treatment" of their supporters by French police after their side's defeat against Marseille.

Han Willhoft-King was fancied to succeed at Spurs then City but opted for law at Brasenose College above pressing sessions with Guardiola Freshers’ week, Oxford University, early October. A time for the heart to hammer with excitement, when horizons are broadened inexorably. For minimal sleep and maximum fun. And for one or two tall stories, a bit of personal reinvention, perhaps. Take one new law student at Brasenose College, because he can certainly spin a few yarns. About the time, for example, he was coached by Yaya Touré at the Tottenham academy. He did not recognise him at first but then saw him on the ball and the penny dropped. Continue reading...

Wolves are yet to win a game in the Premier League this season but their older fans know it could be far worse By That 1980s Sports Blog You fear for Wolves. Eleven matches into the season they are without a win, have sacked manager Vítor Pereira and look likely to be relegated after nearly a decade in the Premier League. It turns out that selling your best players and failing to replace them adequately is not a recipe for success. But surely things cannot be as bad as they were during the 1980s, when they went from the First Division to the Fourth Division in three years. Wolves experienced the perfect start to the decade when they won the League Cup in 1980, beating the reigning European champions Nottingham Forest at Wembley. But all was not well at the club. The decline can be traced back to their decision in the late 1970s to spend £3m on the John Ireland Stand (now the Steve Bull Stand) at Molineux, which left the club financially drained during a time of declining attendances. They were relegated from the top flight at the end of the 1981-82 season and, with debts totalling £2.5m, were minutes away from going out of business that summer. Continue reading...

Nottingham Forest, the Tricky Trees as they are known to their fans, are starting to show shoots of revival.

The Sean Dyche era is fully up and running at Nottingham Forest after securing his first Premier League win as head coach. Leeds were barely worthy opponents, which is concerning considering the two teams could face a long battle for survival. Lukas Nmecha put Leeds ahead but they quickly withdrew their challenge as Ibrahim Sangaré, Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson secured Forest a first Premier League victory in 10 matches to move them one point off 17th. Continue reading...

Our football betting expert Jones Knows provides his insight across the Premier League and explains why Arsenal's winning streak will be under threat at Sunderland.

Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali says he is taking his future at the club "year-for-year" but is "happy" with the Magpies.