Fulham had a point to prove after a midweek Carabao Cup quarter-final defeat to Newcastle, but they picked up where they left off here.
A sluggish start was almost capitalised upon by Forest, who manufactured a glorious chance to open the scoring inside the opening 10 minutes when Igor Jesus swept over from six yards out.
Forest’s Brazilian talisman was then given a huge helping hand from Antonee Robinson, whose loose pass across the area fell at the feet of Jesus, but his effort was blocked at the last second by Jorge Cuenca.
Those hoping for a Christmas cracker were served up something more akin to a cold turkey in west London.
The Cottagers’ best chance to that point fell to Raúl Jiménez shortly before half time, but he could only divert Robinson’s cross into the side netting.
Forest were in the festive mood before the break on the stroke of half time, though, with a wild swing from Douglas Luiz catching Kevin on the back of the boot inside the area.
Jiménez atoned for his earlier misdemeanour, stepping forward to send John Victor the wrong way from 12 yards and fire Fulham into a half-time lead with his 11th successful PL penalty from as many attempts – a joint all-time competition record.
Forest were undoubtedly on the end of a Sean Dyche rocket at half time, and they did fly out of the traps after the break, albeit the same issue still existed – they weren’t creating anything.
That was a theme throughout the second half, and even a triple change didn’t really have much of a positive effect for the visitors, who were coasting towards a defeat.
Their fate ought to have been sealed five minutes from time when Kenny Tete’s marauding run down the right ended with him planting a perfect cross onto the head of Jiménez, but he could only glance wide from six yards.
A desperate late bid to claw back a deficit from Dyche saw him introduce Arnaud Kalimuendo in stoppage time, but even six minutes of stoppage time weren’t enough to help them take home a share of the spoils.
Victory moves Marco Silva’s side to the periphery of the top half as Europe is now a realistic target for a Fulham side who were looking over their shoulders not too long ago.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Kenny Tete (Fulham)
Catch up on the match summary here
