🔗 Share this article Igor Jesus Scores a Brace as The Reds Round Off Europa League Campaign with Victory over Ferencvaros The Brazilian forward has now notched eleven strikes in every tournament for Nottingham Forest this season. Match Summary The home side were previously qualified to the knockout round. Bence Otvos own goal gives hosts a first-half lead. Igor Jesus' European strike puts Forest in control. Forward nets again with a sharp finish in the second half. James McAtee rounds off a excellent display with a penalty. Igor Jesus found the net on two occasions as Nottingham Forest concluded the group stage of the European competition with a convincing win against Ferencvaros at the City Ground. Forest had previously guaranteed a place in the knockout round play-offs and entered this fixture with a slim possibility of making the league's elite, although they required several results to go their way. That did not happen but this assured performance will give Forest fans belief that their side can come through the home-and-away tie to advance to the round of sixteen. A Ferencvaros midfielder struck the post with a headed effort inside the first 10 minutes for the visitors – who are managed by ex-Premier League forward Robbie Keane – but it was all Forest from then on. Forest opened the scoring in the early stages when Ryan Yates' cross was deflected in by Bence Otvos and doubled the lead four minutes later – the striker firing an effort in at the back post for his tenth strike of the campaign. The forward's 11th arrived soon after the restart when he made a perfectly-timed run to break clear of the defence and then place a shot past the shot-stopper. The third strike killed off the visitors' aspirations of mounting a recovery and instead the hosts scored again when the excellent James McAtee converted a spot-kick after a infringement by the hapless Otvos inside the penalty area on Dan Ndoye. Europe's secondary club competition knockout phase play-off lottery takes place on the final Friday of January (midday UK time), where Nottingham Forest might face either the Turkish side or the Greek club. "It's more than the scoreline, there was that feel about it. I want these guys to do collectively well, the whole squad," said manager Sean Dyche. "This is another step, but it is a positive step." Team Breakdown: Jesus Catches Eye as Recent Arrival Watches On Igor Jesus has been a standout performer for Forest in European competition this term with six of his 11 goals coming in the tournament. This double also means he has scored a trio of strikes in his previous two outings and the threat of a challenge for his place in the forward line could be providing motivation. Italian forward Lorenzo Lucca was recently brought in temporarily and he was observing this game from the directors' box. This development may well have been on the striker's mind as he was outstanding against Ferencvaros, producing two superb goals and generally being a constant threat to the visitors' defence with his pace and movement. Jesus was not the only one in impressing, with James McAtee turning in his finest display in a Nottingham Forest shirt since joining from the champions in the previous transfer window, while the Swiss international also impressed. Such positive showings will give the club some fresh hope as they switch focus to pulling further away from the bottom three when they welcome Crystal Palace on Sunday. "All you can ask for is a response," continued Dyche. "I have always trusted their work ethic or their loyalty or integrity. It is just about displaying your quality. "McAtee was very good and Dan was incredibly lively. Igor got another couple and these are positive indicators." Player of the Match Number: 19 The Striker Match rating: 9.10 Forest Top Players Igor Jesus: Average Rating 9.10 #24: Rating 8.8 R. Yates: Average Rating 8.6 #6: Rating 8.01 #31: Rating 7.94 The Visitors Ratings #11: Average Rating 4.1 #66: Average Rating 4.1 #16: Average Rating 4.09 Once the chance to submit ratings has closed, the rating shown is the mean from all the votes.