Two goals in four first half minutes from Harry Wilson set Fulham on their way to a third consecutive pre-season victory as the Whites beat Nottingham Forest 3-1 in Faro this evening.

Marco Silva selected a strong starting line-up for Fulham’s first match of their pre-season tour of Portugal, with Ryan Sessegnon lining up at left back whilst Josh King, Emile Smith Rowe and Wilson all started behind Rodrigo Muniz up front. In contrast, Nuno Espírito Santo opted to begin with many of Forest’s highly-rated under-21 starlets, although a vintage first twenty minutes from Wilson gave the Londoners a comfortable half time lead.

The Welsh winger opted the scoring with a goal highlighting just why the Fulham hierarchy were so keen to exercise the year-long extension option in his contract this summer. Wilson made one of those intelligent runs in from the right to reach a raking ball over the top from Calvin Bassey and impudently chipped the advancing Aaron Bott in the Forest goal. Four minutes later, Wilson doubled his tally by finding the far corner with a lovely, low free-kick from 20 yards following a foul on Sessegnon.

Forest offered little as an attacking force in the first 45 minutes until right at the end of the first half when Bernd Leno did brilliantly to keep on Taiyo Awoniyi after the Nigerian striker had got on the end of a through ball from Jota Silva. Fulham’s fluidity in possession was particularly noticeable with Sessegnon operating almost as a second left winger at times, whilst Josh King roamed richly from his number ten role as Smith Rowe operated from the inside left position where he had shot to prominence at Arsenal.

Both sides made a string of substitutions at half-time, with summer signing Igor Jesus making his first appearance for Forest, and the debutant caused alarm in the rejigged Fulham rearguard with Leno having to take the ball off the Brazilian forward’s toes. But the Whites went up the other end and made it three as Sasa Lukic’s precise cross was driven home by the late arriving Andreas Pereira just before the hour mark.

Leno had to dart off his line to stop Jesus in his tracks before getting to grips with a fierce drive from Morgan Gibbs-White as Forest’s more established names continued to flex their muscles. Former Fulham wing-back Neco Williams did create a goal for the Reds with a hanging cross that was majestically header home by New Zealand international Chris Wood with a quarter of an hour remaining – but that consolation came too late to alter the complexion of the contest.

Silva watched with a smile from the sidelines as his side added a Premier League to their two scalps early in their pre-season programme. The Fulham head coach gave just over twenty minutes from the bench to full back Jon Esenga and versatile forward Aaron Loupalo-BI, who signed a professional contract last week, but sixteen year-old starlet Seth Ridgeon and new arrival Benjamin Lecomte remained on the bench.

Fulham are next in action behind closed doors against Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad on the Algarve on Wednesday.

NOTTINGHAM FOREST: Bott (Sels 45); Powell (Williams 45), Jair Cunha (Murillo 45), Morato (Sangare 45), Carmo (Milenkovic 45); Yates (Anderson 45), Whitehall (Gibbs-White 45), Sinclair (Aina 45), Berry (Jesus 45); Jota Silva (Hudson-Odoi 45); Awoniyi (Wood 45). Subs: Boly, Abbott.

GOAL: Wood (75).

FULHAM (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete (Castagne 45), R. Sessegnon (Esenga 69), Andersen (Diop 45), Bassey (Cuenca 45); Berge (Lukic 45), Cairney (Reed 45); Wilson (Traore 45), King (Pereira 45), Smith Rowe (Iwobi 45); Muniz (Loupalo-Bi 69). Subs: Borto, Lecomte, McNally, Ridgeon, Godo.

GOALS: Wilson (16, 20), Pereira (58).