A series of precise passing saw the hosts beat Forest’s press and, after Traore received the ball out wide, he used the inside of his weaker left foot to curve a cross to the surging Smith Rowe, who nodded past Matz Sels from inside the six-yard area.
Marco Silva opted to start Adama Traore on the right and the decision was nearly repaid in the 12th minute when his looped cross to the head of Raul Jimenez went narrowly wide of the bottom left corner as Forest’s poor marking went unpunished.
Chris Wood netted his 18th goal of the season at Craven Cottage but it was not enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side as headers from Emile Smith Rowe and Calvin Bassey allowed Manchester City and Bournemouth to close the gap on Forest in third.
But the scores did not remain level for long as after the break Bassey, who should have done better for Forest’s equaliser, redeemed himself with a goal of his own as Fulham’s aerial superiority was on show again to unlock Forest’s backline.
The opener, which was a team goal that saw goalkeeper Bernd Leno play a part in the build-up, highlighted the gulf in class between the two sides with Forest hardly getting a touch on the ball in the final third.
