Raul Jiménez speaks to Sky. “We knew it was going to be tough … we made good things … both halves were really tough … we are happy to have these three points … [waiting for the goalkeeper to move before taking a penalty] is always what I do and I think I do it well … it’s something I have trained my whole career … I like to have the pressure and I’m happy to score … I have never missed … 12 out of 12 I think? … [he’s corrected, and a smile and a look of high amusement plays across his face] … ha, one more! … I am really happy about that … more penalties to come, I’ll be there! … at least once a week, in training with the goalkeeper … it’s more difficult because they know me … but I’m always doing it right, how I need to do it … I’m really happy … we have five games in two weeks so it’s going to be tough, but we will be ready for it.”

A reminder that the 34-year-old Mexico international tonight tied the Premier League record for 100-percent penalty success: he’s 11 out of 11, alongside Yaya Toure, with Dimitar Berbatov the next on the list with nine from nine.

Fulham have now won six of their last seven Premier League games against Nottingham Forest. In truth, there wasn’t a great deal between the sides tonight, but Raul Jiménez’s perfectly executed penalty proved the difference … and so this is how the Premier League table looks at Christmas, with Fulham up to 13th, leapfrogging Bournemouth and capital rivals Spurs. Nottingham Forest remain 17th, though they’ve got a five-point cushion on West Ham and the relegation places.

90 min +6: Dominguez is booked for clipping King as the defender tries to make his way upfield with his myrrh.

90 min +5: Andersen with a clearing header. It’s been a busy couple of minutes for the Fulham defender.

90 min +4: … and with delicious timing, Andersen is booked for dissent.

90 min +3: Anderson once again miscues a pass out of play. It’s not been his evening. Meanwhile on Sky, Rob Green names Joachim Andersen as his player of the match.

90 min +2: Kalimuendo comes on for Hudson-Odoi.

90 min +1: Hutchinson crosses from the right but it’s an easy pick for Leno.

90 min: There will be six additional minutes.

89 min: Traore has the opportunity to steam into the Forest box from the right, but hesitates, allowing Murillo to come across and pick his pocket. WWKD? We’ve got evidence of that, haven’t we.

87 min: Fulham spend a bit of time with the ball, and the clock runs down.

85 min: Fulham make a triple change of their own, replacing Smith Rowe, Wilson and Jimenez with Traore, Diop and Kusi-Asare. Then King nips in from the left but, preparing to shoot from the penalty spot, finding himself swarmed.

84 min: Tete reaches the byline down the right. He whips a cross towards Jimenez, who eyebrows across Victor and inches wide of the left-hand side of the net. So close to a second goal of the evening.

82 min: Forest work a short corner on the left. Anderson finally finds his range, whipping a glorious ball to the far stick. Milenkovic can’t quite connect and falls forward, suggesting Jimenez had shoved him from behind. There was nothing in it, though. Had Milenkovic been able to connect, he’d have surely scored. Goal kick. Milenkovic, full of frustration, engages in a petulant shovin’ and a-slappin’ match with Cuenca, who accuses him of diving, and both men go into the book.

81 min: Savona is replaced by Zinchenko.

79 min: Wilson is fine to continue, and indeed goes into the grinch-like Anthony Taylor’s notebook.

78 min: The sweet baby Kevin is withdrawn, and replaced by one King.

76 min: Wilson stretches a leg across his Wales team-mate Williams in an attempt to block tackle. He goes down in pain, holding his knee, which might have twisted upon impact. On comes the physio. Adding insult to injury, referee Anthony Taylor hovers around, waiting to book him for the mistimed challenge.

74 min: For all Forest’s endeavour in this second half, their xG is still only 0.6.

73 min: Forest make a triple change, replacing Gibbs-White, Jesus and Luiz with Awoniyi, Dominguez and McAtee.

72 min: Cairney fizzes a low shot towards the bottom right from distance. Victor tips around the post. No corner, but then there was an obvious foul on Jesus by Andersen in the build-up, so it’s all probably for the best. Not exactly an officiating masterclass, though.

71 min: Murillo is booked for a late clatter into Tete.

69 min: Anderson miscontrols in the centre circle, allowing Lukic to snaffle and feed Wilson, who strokes a pass down the inside-left channel, releasing Kevin into acres. But not for the first time this evening, Kevin doesn’t back himself to power goalwards and shoot, instead dithering until Murillo comes across to hack clear. Speaking of which, here’s Simon McMahon: “It’s just not Christmas until Kevin the cat who lives near Mac Millings appears on the MBM, is it? Give him a treat from me, won’t you Mac. Preferably turkey flavoured. Or (Ful)ham.”

67 min: Down the right, Savona reaches a ball he had no right to get to, and hooks brilliantly infield from the byline. Leno is on point to claim in his six-yard box without fuss, though he’d have been put to the test had anyone in a Forest shirt kept up with play. Savona is within his rights to look around at his team-mates and scream AW C’MON but doesn’t.

66 min: Cairney comes on for Berge.

65 min: Luiz dribbles elegantly down the middle of the park. It looks like Tete clips him on the edge of the D, but referee Anthony Taylor waves play on. The carol the Forest fans break into is not packed with the usual festive bonhomie.

63 min: Hutchinson sashays in from the right, past a couple of folk before crossing low. Jesus miscontrols on the penalty spot, then fouls his man in an attempt to rectify the mistake. “I’m humbled that so many of the MBM great and good are in the house for Fulham,” chirrups Richard Hirst. “If we get Gary Naylor and Mary Waltz my joy will be unconfined … provided we stay ahead of course.”

62 min: Murillo works through some issues by launching a fierce rising shot goalwards from 30 yards. Leno behind it all the way. Then another wave of Forest attack, as Gibbs-White whistles a dipping diagonal right to left, and inches wide of the left-hand post. Leno probably had it covered. Forest are much improved in this second period.

60 min: Murillo thinks about advancing at speed down the inside-left channel … only to be stopped mid-gallop in a gloriously old-fashioned manner by Tete’s perfectly executed, 101mph sliding tackle. The crowd enjoyed that. One suspects Murillo, who takes no prisoners himself, grudgingly admired it too.

58 min: Anderson’s radar has been strangely wonky so far tonight, and now his attempt to release Hutchinson down the right sails harmlessly into the stand behind the goal. “The Tricky Christmas Trees have yet to light up, wouldn’t you say?” quips Peter Oh with perfect comic timing.

56 min: Berge is booked for cynical shove into the back of the in-flight Gibbs-White. “Oh, Scott!” sighs Mac Millings. “Simon McMahon’s 49th-minute Kevin was the cat who lives on my street, silly. But don’t worry: Kevin the cat also tends to misinterpret emails from legendary MBM contributors, so you are not alone.”

54 min: Luiz whips a cross in from the right. Easy for Leno. Then Hudson-Odoi has a whack. Andersen blocks. But Fulham surely can’t keep on like this; exactly 50 percent of the second-half action to this point has taken place in their final third.

52 min: No, it’s hacked away by the first man Lukic at the near post. “I was very happy to see Raúl Jiménez score,” begins Kári Tulinius. “I don’t want to define him by the worst thing that happened to him, but I can’t help but root for him ever since his horrific injury. I hope that he has a good season and a World Cup for the ages next summer.” You’ll be pleased to hear, then, that Jimenez, having now scored all 11 of his Premier League penalties, joins Yaya Toure at the top of the 100% Penalty Success tree. Dimitar Berbatov is next in line with nine out of nine.

51 min: Forest have started this second half brightly, and now Hudson-Odoi wins a corner down the left. Luiz comes across to take it. Perhaps score directly from it?

50 min: A cross comes in from the Forest right. Hudson-Odoi bicycles the ball spectacularly wide left. He was miles offside, to be fair.

49 min: Williams one-twos with Hudson-Odoi down the left and shoots from distance. Straight at Leno. “I finish work for the holidays tomorrow,” begins Simon McMahon, “which leaves plenty time to get my Christmas shopping done, and for Royal Mail to deliver all my parcels and cards in time for the big day, right? Apologies in advance to my family if they don’t arrive before Thursday. This game isn’t great, but at least it has the two classic Christmas names - Jesus and Kevin - to keep us interested. May the blessings of the season Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal.” Just checking: this Kevin you refer to is Roman Roy’s brother, left in the house over the festive period by himself, yes? Or the carrot from the Aldi ad?

47 min: Jesus powers his way down the inside-left channel, between Andersen and Cuenca, reaching a ball he had no right to get. He flicks a shot over Leno but also over the bar.

Nottingham Forest get the second half started. No changes.

Half-time entertainment … though not necessarily for Forest fans, who surely won’t be happy at the prospect of their bitter East Midlands rivals being usurped as the worst team in Premier League history. But it’s on. Jonathan Wilson reports.

45 min +7: Jimenez follows Victor into the book for stopping Williams taking a quick throw.

45 min +6: That was a wonderfully taken spot kick, Jimenez giving Victor the eyes and winning that psychological duel with ease. It’s his third Premier League goal of the campaign.

45 min +4: A long wait for Jimenez as VAR checks first the penalty incident, then whether or not there was an offside in the build-up. The decisions: yes, and no. Jimenez steps up, and …

45 min +1: Fulham have taken eight shots so far, Forest six. None of them on target.

45 min: There will be five additional first-half minutes.

43 min: Hutchinson curls in viciously from the right flank. Jesus can’t meet with his head, six yards out, but the ball dips towards the bottom left and Leno has to adjust quickly and claw it around the post. Nothing comes of the corner.

42 min: All of Fulham’s best work is down the left. Robinson again advances, crossing for Jimenez at the near post. The ball’s a little bit behind the striker, but he corkscrews his neck to slap a header into the side netting. That wasn’t far away from the top-left corner, though you’d have asked questions had Victor allowed it in.

41 min: Milenkovic stands his ground as Smith Rowe tries to advance down the left. The two come together, the latter coming off worse. Milenkovic slightly fortunate not to go into the book for his stubbornness.

39 min: Robinson again finds space down the left. His low cross is deflected back to the edge of the box, where Lukic tries to steer a first-time shot across a flat-footed Victor and into the bottom left. But it’s always heading wide. Again, that’s better from Fulham, and their xG has now zipped all the way up to the heady heights of 0.22.

38 min: … but this is better from Fulham. Smith Rowe slips Robinson into space down the left with a cute diagonal pass from infield; Robinson’s cross is half-cleared, but Fulham come again down the same flank, Kevin nipping into the area and seeing his shot deflected over the bar. Nothing comes of the set piece, other than an instantly blocked Jimenez effort from the edge of the D.

36 min: … and to illustrate/substantiate that point, the current xG is Fulham 0.11, Forest 0.3.

35 min: A while back, it felt like an opening goal was on the cards. Now, not so much.

33 min: Luiz has a crack from the best part of 30 yards. Wide right. So wide right. “Hiya Scott! There’s a cat called Kevin that lives on my street, who also tends to become wracked with self-doubt when through on goal. Coincidence?” Folks, we need to talk about Mac Millings.

32 min: Andersen in space on the right touchline. He’s got four team-mates in the Fulham six-yard box, but balloons his cross miles over everyone’s head. Uncharacteristically poor from one of the best midfielders of the season so far.

30 min: Jimenez scampers down the inside-left channel. He’s got Robinson to his right, just inside the box, but tries to feed Kevin on the overlap instead. Unfortunately Kevin’s checked his run, and the ball runs out for a goal kick. Jimenez not happy. Quite a lot of the Fulham supporters too. A frustrating miscommunication.

29 min: Andersen is made of stronger stuff than most, and instantly puts that finger to use, along with seven others and two thumbs, to disdainfully wrestle Jesus to the floor in a centre-circle struggle. Suffice to say he’s fine.

27 min: Andersen’s digit back in situ, he’s able to continue. Ow, though. Ow. Ooyah. Ow.

25 min: Play is stopped because Andersen has dislocated his finger. Ow. The physio comes on to do some snappin’ and a-strappin’. Andersen understandably doesn’t look down to watch him do his work.

23 min: Jimenez has a crack from the edge of the D. Blocked. Both teams are looking lively, and both sets of fans are responding chorally.

22 min: Wilson rampages in from the right and goes over on the edge of the D. Most of Craven Cottage screams for a free kick, but the Forest defence had swarmed him legally. Play goes on.

21 min: Luiz probes patiently down the right. Suddenly he whips a low curling cross into the Fulham box. Jesus slides in, clear of the defence, telescoping a leg. Any contact and he’d surely be poking home. But he can’t quite reach it. Both teams are nearly getting it right in attack. It’s a decent game.

19 min: That was a big chance for Kevin. A poor touch mid-dribble took him wider left than he’d hoped, allowing the defenders to get back in some semblance of position. And that was that.

17 min: He’s able to continue all right! He takes receipt of a ball in midfield and skates off down the inside-left channel . He’s free on goal! Easy as that! But he doesn’t back himself in a footrace against the covering Milenkovic and Savona, chopping back and losing all momentum. He takes a touch infield and attempts a curler, but Savona blocks the nanosecond the ball comes off his boot.

15 min: Happily, Kevin sits up and then gets to his feet. He’ll be able to continue.

14 min: Kevin remains face down on the turf as the physio checks his neck. As he fell over, he butted Berge at full speed, so he’ll have felt that. No chances taken. A cold night for everyone else to be hanging around, mind.

12 min: Kevin clatters into his own man Berge and goes down holding his head. Play stops so he can get checked over.

10 min: Robinson, out on the Fulham left, plays a dismal ball infield, straight to Jesus on the edge of the box. Jesus takes one touch too many before shooting, allowing Andersen to come across and block with a last-ditch slide. Appalling defending, followed by a much more impressive example of it. Robinson owes Andersen a mince pie.

8 min: Hutchinson sprays a glorious right-to-left pass to set Forest off down the flank. Williams is fed into space by Hudson-Odio. He reaches the byline before clipping a low cross infield for Jesus, who should do better than slicing a shot wide left from ten yards. That was a very decent chance, and a fine team move to boot.

6 min: Berge slips Robinson into space on the left. He crosses promisingly, but once again there’s nobody in white centrally to meet the ball. Fulham are looking good down this left flank.

4 min: The game settles down. It took a while. “I enjoy the odd chat with my postie,” begins Charles Antaki, promisingly. “He’s a Forest fan who correctly predicted that they would be beaten three-nil by Arsenal, but who is equally confident that his team will easily stay up this year. Also that Arsenal will win the league, which seems something less of a certainty. Anyway! Our chats usually work round to how dismally badly the Post Office treats their workers, which should be no surprise, I suppose. So this is a good time to wish every postal worker a happy Christmas, and may their overtime make up for the hassles they’ve been put through for the rest of the year.” Preach on, brother. Solidarity. Join a union, kids.

2 min: Hudson-Odoi makes his presence felt up the other end, pulling a cross back for Jesus, whose shot is instantly blocked. Both teams already showing signs of being well up for this!

1 min: The first minute of the game still isn’t up, and Anderson’s clearing header hits Hudson-Odoi on the chest, the ball then rearing up and brushing the arm. A huge shout for a penalty kick. It’s never going to be given.

Fulham get the ball rolling. Forest are kicking towards the Putney End and the Cottage in this first half. And within 12 seconds, Kevin makes ground down the left and whistles a low cross through the six-yard box. What a delivery! Unfortunately for the hosts, there’s nobody there in white to poke home.

The teams are out. Fulham wearing snow-white shirts, Forest bedecked in Santa-style red third-choice navy blue. Well there goes that festive riff. Ho ho no. Meanwhile here’s some pre-match pessimism from Richard Hirst: “I wondered how Fulham would manage to replace our three Nigerian absentees and now I know: we can’t. I don’t think the Forest defence will be worrying too much, given our lack of creativity and scoring power. Harry Wilson has a lot to do.” We’ll be off in a minute.

Fulham manager Marco Silva talks to Sky Sports. “The team reacted well [against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup] … a tough place to go … we were very competitive again … we fought until the last minutes … a better first half than the second … it was tough to take the result … but there were positives … our identity … some good individual performances … we just want to be more consistent throughout the game.”

A win tonight would be huge for both teams. Neither Fulham nor Forest are in trouble at the moment … but they’re trouble-adjacent, and three points would make their Christmas morning eggnog taste that much sweeter. Victory tonight springs Fulham feasibly as high as 11th, though they’d need to give Forest a four-goal battering to get there. But any victory would take them above Spurs, while a two-goal win sees them leapfrog Brentford as well, and that would surely be more than satisfactory in warming their capital cockles. Meanwhile Forest can only get as high as 15th with a win, but that’d put them ahead of Fulham, and more importantly eight points clear of the relegation zone.

Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche speaks to Sky Sports. “Doug [Luiz] has certainly got Premier League experience … a very good footballer … on the verge of being fully match fit … Mats [Sels] has only had four days training … a bad finger … a groin … we’ve had to be careful with that … but John [Victor] has earned the right for this one with two very strong performances … [the 3-0 win over Spurs] was certainly the most consistent performance [this season] … we want the players to keep building and delivering at that level … we know we’re going to have to be strong tonight.”

Fulham make one change from the starting XI selected for last Wednesday’s 2-1 League Cup defeat at Newcastle. Bernd Leno comes back into the team, with cup keeper Benjamin Lecomte dropping to the bench. Calvin Bassey, Samuel Chukwueze and Alex Iwobi are all on Afcon duty with Nigeria.

Forest make one change to their starting team after the 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur eight days ago. Douglas Luiz replaces Ibrahim Sangaré, who is off to Afcon with Côte d’Ivoire.