Everton condemned Nottingham Forest to a third straight Premier League defeat after rare goals from James Garner and Thierno Barry.
Midfielder Garner – a former Forest loanee who won promotion to the top flight with them in 2022 – scored his first goal since August and a second in over two years.
Barry doubled the Toffees’ advantage – just his second goal since a £27m move from Villarreal in the summer, with both coming against Forest.
The Toffees are eighth after a fifth win in their last nine games, leaving them just four points adrift of the top four.
Boss David Moyes said: “We want to keep pushing. We went to Chelsea two or three weeks ago knowing that if we could beat Chelsea we might have gone fourth or fifth.
“I’ve got a hope that maybe I get a chance somewhere in February or March so I get an opportunity to do that again.
“So the only way we can do that is by hanging in at the moment. But, you know, if we lose [at Forest] you could have been 15th, you win you could be fifth. So it’s really difficult for everybody to weigh up the league.
“It’s one of our best [results] because of what we had available.”
It felt like a pivotal game for 17th-placed Forest after defeats to Fulham and Manchester City stopped them moving further clear of the relegation zone.
They had not suffered successive defeats under former Everton boss Sean Dyche before Saturday’s loss to City, but suffered another setback despite dominating possession.
Forest visit Aston Villa on Saturday, before travelling to third bottom West Ham who are just four points behind.
After Garner struck in the 19th minute with a low finish into the corner from Dwight McNeill’s pass, the hosts struggled to create chances, with Igor Jesus prodding their best opening wide.
James Tarkowski headed wide for Everton, but Barry sealed the success, firing in from Garner’s through-ball.
Dyche, who has won seven of his 15 games, said: “I came here thinking, ‘go on then’ after the Manchester City performance.
“You can talk about stats but there wasn’t an edge in the performance.
“Three games ago people were saying we were brilliant, so that’s how the storyline changes. We have got to change that the other way, and that’s the biggest challenge.
“It is dealing with expectation as well. We have risen to the big games, then the ones where the expectation changes to being on us it is a case of can we go again?
“Can you step on again? A couple of times we haven’t done that. Finding consistency, in everything you do, is the next step.”
Forest lost 3-0 at the Hill Dickinson Stadium earlier this month, a low point in Dyche’s relatively consistent reign so far.
Now another defeat to Everton will sit in the same bracket, with Forest unable to pull away from relegation trouble.
With a trip to former boss Nuno Espirito Santo and West Ham – who are four points behind in 18th after their draw against Brighton – looming, this game represented a real opportunity to cut the bottom three adrift.
It was also imperative to recover from the disappointment of Saturday’s late 2-1 defeat by Manchester City – a result which still has ramifications with Forest asking for the audio between the officials following Rayan Cherki’s winner, and Dyche feeling it should have been disallowed.
Yet there was no controversy at the City Ground this time. Forest had almost 70% possession, but were unable to create enough to threaten visiting keeper Jordan Pickford.
While there was plenty of effort, Forest lacked a cutting edge, although Everton deserve credit for their resolute defending.
It is certainly not a crisis for the hosts, but the last week has been a reminder – if needed after the comparative calm of the Dyche era – that Forest cannot afford complacency and remain in the relegation scrap.
While Forest completed 245 passes in the final third, Everton managed just 54.
The hosts attempted 52 crosses but were repelled by the imperious Tarkowski and Jake O’Brien who protected Pickford until a couple of nervy moments in injury time.
Through-balls attempted and completed by Everton equalled two, while it was zero for Forest.
The only stat which counted, though, was the scoreline and Garner and Barry’s goals lifted the Toffees within touching distance of the top four.
The Champions League may seem fanciful, but why should a challenge for the Europa League or Conference League be beyond Everton?
One or two teams will find the consistency in the second half of the season to pull away in a congested table – Everton are just three points clear of Tottenham in 13th place – and results like this will only aid the Toffees’ chances.
Sean Dyche’s Forest visit Aston Villa on Saturday, 3 January (12:30 GMT) and then go to West Ham on Tuesday, 6 January (20:00 GMT).
Everton host Brentford on Saturday (20:00 GMT) and then welcome struggling Wolves on Wednesday, 7 January (19:30 GMT).
