Nottm Forest 0-0 Fulham: Aina hits the bar, Bassey and Iwobi impress as Super Eagles stars cancel each other out

Five Super Eagles players, one Premier League fixture, and not a single goal between them in 90 minutes.

Nottingham Forest and Fulham played out a tense 0-0 draw at the City Ground on Saturday afternoon, a result that did just enough to lift Forest out of the Premier League relegation zone on goal difference.

The match was far from short of drama despite the scoreline. A VAR-disallowed goal, a strike rattling the upright, and a series of crucial last-ditch blocks all ensured the game had plenty of talking points, just no goals to show for it.

How the match unfoldedForest began with obvious tension, a side well aware that defeat would leave them deep in relegation trouble. 

Fulham, buoyed by an impressive record against their opponents, winning six of their previous seven Premier League meetings, came into the game with quiet confidence.

The first half produced moments of promise without a breakthrough. The closest either side came was a Calvin Bassey header from an Alex Iwobi, who promised to keep fighting, delivery that was smartly saved by Matz Sels in the Forest goal. 

Fulham also had chances to play through Forest's press but were undone by their own misplaced passes in promising positions.

The second half was considerably more open. Dan Ndoye thought he had broken the deadlock in the 63rd minute, lifting a cool finish over Bernd Leno, only for VAR to confirm he was offside when receiving the ball. The City Ground was briefly euphoric before falling silent.

19' Bassey header saved - Rushes the goalmouth to meet Iwobi's delivery, Sels reacts quickly to deny

47 'Bassey penalty shout - Bundles over Ndoye in the box, spot kick awarded but overturned for offside

56' Bassey tackle - Stands firm to put the ball out for a throw-in as Fulham threatened

58' Aina hits the bar! - Controls Milenkovic's long ball, one touch and an absolute thunderbolt onto the upright from the edge of the box

65' Aina crucial block - Imperiously denies Rodrigo Muniz what looked a certain goal from the resulting corner scramble

88' Awoniyi drags wide - Loses his marker and gets in behind, but pulls his shot just past the far post

Ola Aina's 58th-minute strike that cannoned off the crossbar was the moment of the match. The right-back controlled a long ball from Milenkovic, took one touch, and unleashed a ferocious strike from the edge of the box that beat the goalkeeper entirely - only for the woodwork to deny what would have been a contender for goal of the season.

His redemption came seven minutes later when he produced an imperious block to deny Rodrigo Muniz a certain goal from close range, underlining a performance of considerable quality from the Super Eagles defender on both sides of the ball.

Substitute Taiwo Awoniyi came closest to a late Forest winner, finding space in behind the Fulham defence in the 88th minute, but dragged his shot just wide of the far post when a goal looked more likely than no

Ola Aina - Nottingham Forest: Hit the bar with a thunderbolt, made a crucial block at the other end. Best Nigerian on the pitch. 8

Calvin Bassey - Fulham: Solid defensively, made key tackles. Header in the 19th minute should have been a goal. 7

Alex Iwobi - Fulham: Dropped deep to link play, delivered the cross for Bassey's header. Faded after half-time. 6

Taiwo Awoniyi - Nottingham Forest (sub, 62'): Came on and immediately looked dangerous. Should have scored with late effort that drifted wide.

Samuel Chukwueze - Fulham (Sub 62'): Came on for Fulham but didn't make enough impact for the visitors.

The point means Forest move above West Ham United into 17th place on goal difference, lifting them out of the relegation zone for the first time since earlier in 2026.

For Fulham, it is a first clean sheet of the calendar year, though a win would have moved them considerably closer to the top half.