Nottingham Forest ended Brentford’s unbeaten home run with a deserved 2-0 win in west London to ensure they will spend Christmas inside the Premier League top four.
Forest recovered from a slow start at the Gtech to burst Brentford’s undefeated bubble with goals in either half from Ola Aina and Anthony Elanga.
The leggy Bees, playing their third game in less than six days, soon ran out of steam after flying out of the blocks with little answer to Forest’s fast-moving forward play, and should have been behind by the time Aina struck.
Chris Wood was denied by a superb Mark Flekken save when he should have given the goalkeeper no chance from a six-yard header had he placed it better.
He and Forest did not have to wait long to make amends as six minutes later, the Forest wing-back was allowed to travel 40 yards unmarked to turn Neco Williams’ low cross back into the far corner.
Five minutes into the second period it was game over as Elanga robbed Keane Lewis-Potter after a heavy touch, before turning inside Ben Mee and finding a similarly well-placed finish to beat Flekken.
The Bees had little answer to avoid a first home defeat since the final day of last season but did go close through Kristoffer Ajer, whose powerful rising drive hit Matz Sels in the face on its way over the crossbar.
But Forest, already boasting the Premier League’s third-best defensive record, showed why they will spend Christmas ahead of Manchester City, Aston Villa, Newcastle and the rest as they cruised to their fifth away win of the season – as many as across both of their previous seasons since promotion.
More to follow…
