Dogged 10-man Forest hold Brentford to 1-1 draw

Nottingham — Brentford were held to a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday as the hosts staged a recovery despite having Moussa Niakhate sent off and then conceding a goal, all in only two minutes.

The draw moved both teams up the standings by one position, with Forest rising to 11th place on eight points from seven games, one ahead of Brentford in 13th, who were annoyed to have dropped points.

“It’s disappointing. We took the lead and they had a man sent off. When you don’t leave the pitch with three points you will always be disappointed afterwards,” said Brentford captain and goal-scorer Christian Norgaard.

“Even though we created enough chances in the end to score, I think we were unlucky. It was nice to get my first goal of the season, but annoying we couldn’t capitalise.”

Forest made a strong start and had the ball in the net in the eighth minute after Taiwo Awoniyi turned in a knock-down from a corner, but the goal was disallowed for offside after a VAR review.

Brentford gradually grew into the game, and had a great opportunity to score at the end of the first half when Vitaly Janelt drew a save from Matt Turner before heading the rebound into the penalty area, but Yoane Wissa was inches away from poking home the opener.

After the break, Forest were dealt a double blow when Niakhate was shown a second yellow for hacking down Wissa in the 56th minute, before Norgaard headed home from the resultant free kick to open the scoring in the 58th minute.

Norgaard’s goal was awarded after a lengthy VAR check for offside, eliciting groans from the home fans at City Ground.

Forest responded well to going behind and were back on level terms seven minutes later through Nicolas Dominguez, who connected with substitute Harry Toffolo’s cross and fired off a brilliant header that looped over the goalkeeper.

Brentford manager Thomas Frank made several attacking changes as his side desperately sought a winner to avoid a fifth straight league match without victory, bringing on Neal Maupay, Saman Ghoddos and Michael Olakigbe.

Morgan Gibbs-White’s brilliant goal-saving challenge on Bryan Mbeumbo in the 89th minute ended a blistering Brentford counterattack, while Forest debutant Murillo and Willy Boly made excellent blocks to stop late efforts as Forest held on to grab a share of the points.

“We have to be proud of the response for sure. We hung in there. We’re happy to get a point,” Forest goalkeeper Turner told the BBC.

Chris Wood had a chance to snatch a sensational win for Forest in the sixth minute of added time, but the New Zealand international could not keep his header down.

Reuters