Match ends, Nottingham Forest 1, Brentford 3.
Nottm ForestNottingham Forest1BrentfordBrentford3
Brentford moved to within two points of the Championship play-off places with an emphatic win that takes Nottingham Forest's winless run to 10 games.
Jon Toral's sweet strike put the Bees ahead and a woeful backpass by Eric Lichaj gifted Andre Gray their second.
More poor defending soon after the break saw Alex Pritchard score from the spot when Kelvin Wilson felled Gray.
Forest rarely looked like recovering but Michail Antonio's fierce long-range shot did get them on the scoresheet.
That goal, as good as it was, did little to appease the home fans - but they managed to stay behind their side and manager Stuart Pearce despite their obvious anger at an abject performance.
Understandably, boos erupted at the end of both halves as they witnessed a fifth defeat in 10 games in all competitions, but Brentford were worthy winners.
| Forest's winless run continues |
|---|
| A 5-3 home win against Fulham on 17 September was the last time Forest took three points in the league. Since then they have gone 10 games without success |
The Bees looked composed and disciplined from the off and took the lead when the ball broke nicely to Toral after a couple of half-blocks and the on-loan Arsenal midfielder crashed the ball beyond keeper Karl Darlow.
Alan Judge almost made it 2-0, but fired wide after some smart work by the impressive Toral.
Forest's Danny Fox had a fine long-range effort tipped over by David Button, but they struggled to retain possession and barely threatened a strong Bees back four covered by holding midfielder Jonathan Douglas.
A dreadful backpass by Lichaj, recently on for the injured Jack Hunt, let in Gray who calmly sidestepped Darlow and scored into the empty net.
It could easily have been worse for the hosts as Douglas shot wide and Darlow pulled off a fine block from Gray in first-half stoppage time.
Forest top scorer Britt Assombalonga came on for the second half, but barely had time to break sweat before they trailed 3-0 after Gray broke forward and Wilson lunged in, allowing Pritchard to calmly score from 12 yards.
The hosts finally began to threaten as Fox and Henri Lansbury went close, before Antonio's great strike gave them some hope.
But with all three Forest substitutes on and Fox having to go off injured, the Londoners eased to victory.
Nottingham Forest manager Stuart Pearce:
"The goals we gave away were very poor and it just erodes the confidence of the team. A victory solves that, but it seems very elusive at the moment.
"I care about this football club deeply, it is more than a job as a manager to me.
"Defeat hurts me greatly, but I don't fear losing my job, I don't fear failure, I never have done.
"I believe I am in the infancy of a job here. We are on a bad run and we need to get a victory as soon as we can."
Brentford manager Mark Warburton:
"We started off really quickly, had some good intent, moved the ball well and I thought we showed a real level of threat in that first hour.
"We saw they had Michael Mancienne in front of the back four and we felt Toral could exploit the space and Gray could work the channels with the centre-halves and that was the game plan. It worked out quite well and I thought Gray was absolutely outstanding.
"It's pleasing for the players and to come to a ground and club of this stature, and to get that kind of performance and result was very pleasing."
Line-ups
Nottm Forest
Formation 4-5-1
- 1Darlow
- 17HuntSubstituted forLichajat 32'minutes
- 6Wilson
- 16LascellesSubstituted forAssombalongaat 45'minutes
- 13Fox
- 27BurkeSubstituted forPatersonat 62'minutes
- 4Mancienne
- 10LansburyBooked at 20mins
- 38Osborn
- 19Ince
- 18Antonio
Substitutes
- 2Lichaj
- 3Harding
- 7Fryatt
- 9Assombalonga
- 21Paterson
- 29de Vries
- 32Tesche
Brentford
Formation 4-1-4-1
- 27Button
- 10OdubajoSubstituted forDallasat 64'minutes
- 6Dean
- 5Craig
- 3Bidwell
- 8DouglasBooked at 55mins
- 17ToralSubstituted forJotaat 59'minutes
- 20Diagouraga
- 18Judge
- 21PritchardBooked at 70mins
- 19GraySubstituted forProschwitzat 74'minutes
Substitutes
- 7Saunders
- 15Dallas
- 16Bonham
- 23Jota
- 24Smith
- 26Tarkowski
- 39Proschwitz
- Referee:
- Mark Haywood
- Attendance:
- 21,072
Match Stats
Home TeamNottm ForestAway TeamBrentford
- Possession
- Home54%
- Away46%
- Shots
- Home18
- Away12
- Shots on Target
- Home5
- Away5
- Corners
- Home9
- Away6
- Fouls
- Home7
- Away10
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Nottingham Forest 1, Brentford 3.
Post update
Attempt missed. Britt Assombalonga (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right.
Post update
Attempt missed. Jamie Paterson (Nottingham Forest) left footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Britt Assombalonga.
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Attempt blocked. Henri Lansbury (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
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Attempt missed. Alan Judge (Brentford) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Alex Pritchard.
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Attempt blocked. Alex Pritchard (Brentford) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
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Corner, Brentford. Conceded by Michael Mancienne.
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Daniel Fox went off injured after Nottingham Forest had used all subs.
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Attempt blocked. Michail Antonio (Nottingham Forest) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Henri Lansbury.
Goal!
Goal! Nottingham Forest 1, Brentford 3. Michail Antonio (Nottingham Forest) left footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Jamie Paterson.
Post update
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
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Delay in match Daniel Fox (Nottingham Forest) because of an injury.
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Attempt missed. Tom Ince (Nottingham Forest) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Jamie Paterson.
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Hand ball by Nick Proschwitz (Brentford).
Substitution
Substitution, Brentford. Nick Proschwitz replaces Andre Gray.
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Foul by Kelvin Wilson (Nottingham Forest).
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Alan Judge (Brentford) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Corner, Nottingham Forest. Conceded by David Button.
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Attempt saved. Michail Antonio (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Tom Ince.
