Forest give Hughton reasons to be fearful
CHRIS HUGHTON has been at great pains to insist Nottingham Forest are not in a relegation battle. But his team are certainly carrying many of the traits typical of sides in trouble.
A slow start that saw them take 38 minutes to conjure an effort at goal, an early Brentford goal conceded from a set-piece, a long spell of dominance that saw them hammer away but squander good opportunities, a disallowed goal and penalty shouts turned down.
All that was then capped off by a sucker punch on the counter attack and finally a classic defensive mixup to make Brentford’s win all the more flattering. It really isn’t difficult to understand why Hughton’s Forest find themselves just above the Championship relegation places. The one crumb of comfort is that local rivals Derby are even worse off.
Brentford, meanwhile, are now unbeaten in 11 matches, inside the top six once again and showed a defensive resilience that has eluded them in recent weeks when too many games they should have won ended up as draws.
As Hugh ton reflected on a seventh winless game, of which six have been defeats, he rued familiar failings. ‘In this tough run, this is as disappointed as I’ve been,’ he said.
‘I want us to start better than we did. The three goals we conceded were three really poor goals. That sums us up.
‘These individual mistakes are costing us because at the moment we don’t have the ability at the other end to capitalise.’
Brentford dominated most of the first half and led with a simple goal after 15 minutes.
Nobody tracked Henrik Dalsgaard, one of the tallest men on the pitch, as he darted to the near post and headed Mathias Jensen’s corner past goalkeeper Brice Samba.
The Bees should have been out of sight by the time Forest got a sniff of goal. Ivan Toney fired into the side netting and then just over with an acrobatic volley, while Bryan Mbeumo forced Samba into a sharp low save. Finally, Forest created something just before half-time, with David Raya saving well from Sammy Ameobi and they emerged a totally different team after the interval.
Indeed, Forest thought they had equalised when Anthony Knockaert, on loan from Brentford’s rivals Fulham, swept home after Cyrus Christie’s cross, but a late linesman’s flag cut short celebrations.
Lyle Taylor went down in the box, having got beyond Mads Sorensen, but penalty appeals were dismissed. By then a Forest leveller looked inevitable. But Brentford broke downfield and Josh Dasilva curled home after being allowed to step in from the right.
To compound Forest’s misery, Samba misjudged Vitaly Janelt’s looping ball over the top, allowing Toney to score and move clear as the division’s leading scorer with 15 goals.
Joe Worrall headed home a stop page-time consolation for Forest that was 20 minutes too late to be useful and Knockaert received a second yellow for diving before the end just to heap more ignominy on another miserable afternoon.
‘In the second half we struggled,’ admitted Bees boss Thomas Frank. ‘Forest did well but we showed a top mentality, hard work and a unique togetherness to hang in there. It’s a big win for us because Forest are way better than they are in the table.’
For Hughton and Forest, they can only hope the Dane is right and the table is lying.