Brentford suffered their third home Championship defeat of the season on a night of disappointment at Griffin Park.
The Bees found Nottingham Forest ultimately too streetwise to break down and a goal by Joe Lolley early on proved sufficient to separate the teams, both competing hard in the play-off zone. Forest will see this particular success in west London as hard earned, but ultimately merited.
Brentford had placed enough importance on the clash against Sabri Lamouchi’s men, in fourth place and just a point above them, that they fielded a shadow team in Saturday’s FA Cup fourth round defeat to Leicester City.
Such a concession was, according to manager Thomas Frank, worth it in order to keep players fresh for crucial Championship business, especially against an immediate rival.
Mathias Jensen came in as a strong-looking Brentford made one change from their last league game, a scoreless draw at Huddersfield Town. However, the Bees lost the corresponding fixture, 1-0 at Forest back in October – and they missed this opportunity for revenge.
As expected, both sides were assertive early on, with Jensen looking the pick of the Brentford midfield.
Nevertheless it was his counterpart, Lolley, who broke the deadlock in the 14th minute.
From a corner which the Bees failed to clear properly, the midfielder was able to compose himself on the edge of the penalty area to drive a left foot shot, which took a deflection, to loop past outstretched home keeper David Raya.
Brentford responded aggressively, if not entirely fluently, and Ollie Watkins carved out an opening from a Said Benrahma pass, but his low, left footed shot went inches past the post.
Ultra-organised Forest pressed across all areas as well as offering a potent counter-attacking dimension. In addition, Lamouchi’s outfit were largely successful in containing the main, triple Bees’ threat of Watkins, Benrahma and Bryan Mbuemo throughout the first half.
Matters were not improving for the hosts after the break, with Forest clearly not as porous or as intimidated as some opponents in this division this term. A wild-looking shot by Josh Dasilva, which sailed over the bar summed up much of Brentford’s difficulty, and evidently that of Frank on the touchline.
The Bees chief, perhaps surprisingly, swapped Jensen for Emiliano Marcondes.
Rico Henry tested Forest keeper Brice Samba with an effort that lacked power but the frustration was showing, despite Dasilva’s regular attempts to prise open the east Midlands side.
Moreover, Brentford’s normal and imaginative attacking threats were barely visible as the game seeped to a cold conclusion.
In the end, Frank – certain to be sharing the dejection of the home support – will have to galvanise Brentford after failing this important test, ahead of the trip to face Hull City on Saturday.
[scriptless]
This post was last modified on 30/01/2020