There was very little to choose between two sides separated by a mere point at kick-off, but Raul Jimenez’s second-half penalty, awarded for Murillo's foul on Andreas Pereira, proved decisive.

Forest had started brightly with Taiwo Awoniyi missing an early chance, while Chris Wood saw a potential opener disallowed for offside after a VAR review in the 25th minute.

However, Nuno Espirito Santo's team failed to find a spark without the suspended Morgan Gibbs-White as Fulham's own impressive start to 2024-2025 continued.

The result leaves Forest ninth in the table with nine points, with Fulham leapfrogging its host to move into sixth on 11 points.

Fulham boss Marco Silva admitted he is delighted to see Jimenez back to his best. The Mexican has struggled for regular goals since a serious head injury he suffered playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers against Arsenal in November 2020.

“It's great to see him back at that level again after that bad incident when he was at Wolves. It was tough for him to come back," Silva said.

"In an important moment of his career, when he was struggling for goals, we showed trust in him, and believed in him. He got used to scoring before the incident but we trusted him.

“From the first moment at this club he showed his hard work and his quality. It's nice to see him score and be decisive for us."

With 50 Premier League goals now, Jimenez is now just four goals away from Javier Hernandez's record as the most prolific Mexican player in the competition's history.

He said: "Yes, why not break records and set new ones. He [Hernandez] was a very good player in English football and now it's my time and I want to keep scoring.

“The most important thing is the three points. It's early in the season, and we have a long way to go, but being there is good for us. We want to make history for Fulham and know we can achieve more."