Ollie has last laugh as Bees sting Aitor
FOREST replaced Cash with Lolley but in the end Brentford nabbed the bounty.
They ended the visitors’ unbeaten run to kick-start their season.
This win made it three out of three at home and showed why they can be considered promotion contenders.
Bees boss Dean Smith said: “That was a battle out there. Our style of play never changes and I thought we deserved to win. We are not a surprise any more and a lot of teams don’t really want to come here.
“At the moment I have a group of players that are problems solvers and that is what they did today.”
Boro boss Aitor Karanka said: “Tough game. They took their chances. We didn’t. But the atmosphere at this club is amazing and we will bounce back.”
Twelve players were booked and even at the end referee Peter Bankes was separating warring parties.
Such was the passion of two sides anxious to chase the points they lost their cool.
Brentford’s win allowed keeper Daniel Bentley to forget his howler when he let Forest sub Matty Cash’s speculative 25-yard, 61st-minute shot slip through his hands for their equaliser.
Cash, the goalscoring hero in midweek against Newcastle, was on in place of Joe Lolley.
Forest’s £26million outlay in buying 13 players counted for nothing yesterday.
They fought hard but Brentford held the aces and in Said Benrahma they had their match-winner.
Two of his crosses were turned into goals, while another was pushed on to a post.
His first saw Lewis MacLeod flick in a glancing header two minutes into first-half added time.
Then, after Cash’s injection had given Forest hope, another Benrahma cross dropped for Ollie Watkins to turn in his 85th-minute winner.