Nottingham Forest beat Fulham 3-1 last night and Nuno Espirito Santo decided to hand Danilo a recall to the starting eleven.
Goals from Callum Hudson-Odoi, Chris Wood and Morgan Gibbs-White gave Forest all three points in this massive City Ground clash.
What didn’t go unnoticed was the way in which Forest attacked in the opening 45 minutes as they put Fulham to the sword.
It was perhaps Espirito Santo’s team selection that sprung a bit of intrigue, however, with Brazilian star Danilo coming in from the cold for Forest.
The Reds were always going to make one or two changes after starting slowly against Crystal Palace at the weekend before coming back to claim a draw.
One change saw Anthony Elanga start at the expense of Divock Origi; with Danilo the intriguing call in midfield to replace Forest record signing Ibrahim Sangare.
The Brazilian hasn’t played much lately but during this particular clash, he was called upon to partner Ryan Yates and was given the chance to stake his claim.
Danilo deserves run of Forest games
Someone should simply tell Forest midfielder Danilo that it’s April all year round. It was around this time last year when the £18 million signing from Palmeiras came of age.
He scored in three successive games at the back end of last season and his performances grew in a Forest shirt.
Last night, we saw a glimpse of that Danilo once again and he graced every blade of the City Ground turf with his presence on the night.
Sangare was always going to come out of the team on Tuesday night, with his performance not particularly great on Saturday.
However, it was anticipated that Nicolas Dominguez would be the next in command for Forest and Danilo’s inclusion was a bit of a shock.
The 22-year-old has only started 13 games for Forest this season and he’s been striving for consistency in the middle of the park.
Last night, he claimed a brilliant assist for Gibbs-White and his overall play was pretty impressive throughout the game.
Nuno Espirito Santo can get the best out of Danilo
Much of the current Forest team picks itself. However, the central midfield area has given Espirito Santo some real conundrums.
It would appear that Sangare and Ryan Yates is a pairing that doesn’t really work, with both players defence-minded.
Then there is Dominguez to throw into the mix, with Danilo another option to play in a central role for Forest.
Last night, it was the turn of Danilo and he showed Espirito Santo why he’s worth sticking with, producing a lungbusting display.
The 22-year-old didn’t forget his defensive duties, with Who Scored showing that he made five interceptions and three clearances.
He also made two key passes and completed 77.3% of his attempted passes during his 90 minutes on the pitch.
In our view, last night was the best performance Forest have produced since returning to the Premier League.
A big factor in that was the return of Danilo and Forest boss Espirito Santo must now give the Brazilian a run of games in his team.
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