Abdoulaye Doucoure was Everton's stoppage-time hero in a 1-0 win over Champions League hopefuls Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

Nuno Espirito Santo was hoping his side would bounce back strongly following their 2-1 loss to Aston Villa last weekend, but Everton snatched the points in the dying embers of Saturday's contest.

The Toffees were arguably the better team throughout a hard-fought and scrappy encounter, with Forest struggling to hit top gear, and they were undone by a superb counter that was finished off coolly by Doucoure.

James Garner and Iliman Nidaye saw efforts saved by Matz Sels in the first half, while Callum Hudson-Odoi tested Jordan Pickford just before the break.

Hudson-Odoi should have done better when he cut inside the area early in the second half, before Ndiaye failed to beat Sels at the other end.

The lively Jack Harrison lashed just over with 15 minutes remaining before Everton had a penalty appeal waved away when Beto went down under pressure from Murillo.

But a stunning late breakaway caught Forest cold. Murillo was caught in possession by Dwight McNeil, who teed up Doucoure for a fine first-time finish.

The victory moves Everton onto 38 points in 14th place, while Forest are just one point above Manchester City and three clear of fifth-place Aston Villa, in what is shaping up to be a thrilling race for Champions League qualification.

Data debrief: Moyes works his magic

The second David Moyes era at Everton has been an incredible success. The Toffees have lost just one of their last eight Premier League matches against opponents above them in the Premier League table at the start of the day (W4 D3) – after having lost each of their previous three such matches before this run.

Everton have also been prolific on the road. Only Brentford (12, before facing Arsenal on Saturday) have picked up more points on the road in the Premier League than Everton (11) since David Moyes’ first away match in charge after returning to the club.

The Toffees have now managed 11 points on the road under Moyes, four more than they managed under former manager Sean Dyche this term.

On Saturday, they ended the match with 13 shots, five of them on target – higher than their season average of 3.6 shots on target per match. Everton outperformed Forest in expected goals (xG) as well, with the Toffees amassing 1.30 xG to Forest’s 0.49 xG.