Superb strikes from Bukayo Saka, Thomas Partey and Ethan Nwaneri clinched a 3-0 win to send everyone home happy from north London, especially our boss who made the bold decision to make five changes to his team with a busy fixture list on the horizon.
And he was thrilled it paid off with a performance worthy of the occasion, as a new-look team prevented Forest from even mustering a shot on target throughout the contest, and Mikel’s substitutions even yielded two goalscorers off the bench.
On marking game 250 with three points, he said: “It’s a beautiful day, especially for me, because that’s a big number and it’s a huge privilege to be where I am.
“Everybody contributed to the game phenomenally well with a lot of fluidity and enthusiasm in our play, dominance, scoring goals and creating so many chances. Then when that wasn’t enough, we brought the subs and they also had a big impact to help us win the game. We scored three goals, kept a clean sheet, so a lot of positives I would say.
“Changing half of the team, I know the risk - you are right or wrong in relation to the result. Today if we had lost, [people would be saying] Mikel is crazy, why is he leaving Thomas Partey, Declan Rice, Martinelli, Kai Havertz and other players out, but I sensed and felt the energy in the team that everybody deserved the chance.
“Everybody was working so hard, the way the internationals worked when they were here was unbelievable and you have to give something back to them. They proved that it was the right thing regardless of the result because of how much they wanted it.
“In every department we really at it, really efficient and we constrained [Forest] to something that they are normally able to do [score]. That’s why they’ve been so good, they haven’t lost away yet in the league, and that’s a difficult thing especially when you travel to Anfield and Stamford Bridge, but they’re a really good side.”
Returning Calafiori on a strong defensive display
Saka’s stunning strike put us in the driving seat before Partey fired home a second from outside the area, but the cherry on top of the cake came when Nwaneri grabbed his first Premier League goal, clinching our 2,000th top-flight win in the process.
While Mikel couldn’t pick which goal was his favourite, he was delighted to see that a moment of club history was capped by a Hale End product making his mark and capturing the imagination of the home supporters buzzing on their way home after that result.
“The last one was special because for Ethan to be the second youngest-ever player at the club to score a Premier League goal, that’s a big achievement,” Mikel added. “Then the reaction of our supporters telling us how much they love him and how much they are enjoying watching a player that has come through the academy to be playing in the first team.
“It’s great, again, let’s have many more [wins] and let’s participate in a lot of them. I think it was a really positive day.”
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