Bees drop more points as Forest hit back to draw
Brentford’s automatic promotion hopes suffered another blow as they once again surrendered a lead.
On Tuesday, they threw away a 2-0 half-time lead at Derby to draw 2-2, and here they failed to build on a 1-0 half-time lead and lost two more valuable points.
Ivan Toney had put them ahead with his 28th goal of the season – maintaining his 100% record from the penalty spot after he had been fouled by Gaetan Bong.
But although Brentford, who had only scored once from open play in their previous three matches, hit the woodwork twice at a corner, they again failed to find the net and conceded a controversial equaliser to a Filip Krovinovic shot from inside the area.
For the third successive match, the Bees went ahead with an early penalty. Bryan Mbeumo swung in the first corner of the match and Bong hauled down Toney, who got up and sent Brice Samba the wrong way from the spot for his eighth spot-kick of the season.
Mbeumo, probably the most impressive Bee on the day, then came close to doubling the lead with a long run and fierce shot which went just wide of the far post, before from another of the winger’s corners, Vitaly Janelt’s shot into the ground hit the bar and Henrik Dalsgaard’s close-range follow-up hit the post.
There was controversy around Forest’s equaliser. Cafu appeared to foul Mathias Jensen in nicking the ball off him in the centre circle. The referee waved play on and the ball eventually found its way to Bong, whose deep cross was half cleared by Winston Reid straight to Krovinovic, who placed it into the bottom corner from 10 yards.
The Bees did have their moments after that and substitutes Saman Ghoddos and Tarique Fosu both had shots blocked by resolute Forest defending.
And in injury-time a long-range Toney shot was just deflected past.
But the Bees slipped further behind Watford and Swansea in the race for second spot and have now thrown away 18 points from winning positions this season.
They may look back on this week as the one when their automatic promotion chances slipped away.
Brentford: Raya, Dalsgaard, Sorensen, Jansson, Reid, Norgaard, Janelt (Ghoddos 70), Jensen (Marcondes 86), Canos (Forss 86), Mbeumo (Fosu 77), Toney.
