Keith Andrews’ debut as Brentford boss certainly wasn’t one to remember as his side fell to a 3-1 defeat away to Nottingham Forest on the opening weekend of the new Premier League (PL) campaign.
Key stats
- Nottingham Forest are now unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League matches when leading at half-time
- Chris Wood has now scored four goals in eight appearances in the Premier League against Brentford
- Brentford have now scored in their last 11 Premier League away games
Highlights
Analysis
Chris Wood had two shots and scored with each in a prolific display for Forest.
Wood was the player of the match, achieving an impressive 8.0 Flashscore rating.
Nottingham Forest dominated Brentford for long spells throughout the match.
Match report
A mixed bag of pre-season results, coupled with the high-profile departure of Anthony Elanga, had Forest fans pondering what this PL season may look like.
The opening stages of this game suggested they needn’t have worried, as a lightning-quick start yielded the opening goal when Brentford failed to clear a Forest corner, and the effervescent Chris Wood was on hand to steer home the loose ball.
The Bees were under immense pressure in the opening 20 minutes, but having weathered the storm on Andrews’ managerial debut, they came close to finding a leveller when Yehor Yarmolyuk’s outside-of-the-foot effort from the edge of the area forced a strong one-handed save out of Matz Sels.
Forest have long since taken an exception to VAR in the PL, and they were smarting from what they felt was another incorrect call just after the half-hour mark.
Elliot Anderson’s free-kick travelled a long way before striking the outstretched arm of Antoni Milambo, but neither referee Peter Bankes nor VAR saw anything doing.
The Tricky Trees were able to garner that sense of injustice and turn it into a positive, doubling their advantage before HT through Dan Ndoye, who headed home Morgan Gibbs-White’s cross on his Forest debut.
There was still time for Nuno Espírito Santo’s men to add a third before Peter Bankes sounded the HT whistle.
Anderson was the architect, threading a perfect ball through for Wood, who rounded Caoimhin Kelleher and rolled into an empty net.
The second half followed a much similar pattern, with Forest dominating for large parts.
They came within a whisker of a fourth goal soon after the break, and in some style too, as Gibbs-White acrobatically volleyed over the bar from a little over six yards out.
The Bees were handed a lifeline just under 15 minutes from time when Ibrahim Sangaré was adjudged to have handled inside the area, and after a lengthy delay, Igor Thiago stepped forward from 12 yards and rolled home his first goal for the club.
That proved to be nothing more than a consolation strike for Andrews’ men, who slumped to a first-ever defeat on the opening day of a PL season.
The day belonged to Forest, who won their opening game of a league campaign for the first time since 2017 as they ramp up their preparations for their upcoming UEFA Europa League campaign.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest)
Post-match comments
Brentford boss Keith Andrews to Sky Sports: "The game was pretty much done at half time, and I didn't like a lot of what I saw in the first half. You have to do the basics at this level to give yourself the chance of winning games. I
"It was the game we knew it would be. Ball losses in critical areas cost us. There was a naivety I felt in some cases.
"There's an element of some players playing catch-up with not having a fluid pre-season. Damsgaard came out of the team with his wife giving birth. I won't shy away from the fact it wasn't good enough in the first half. It doesn't define us, and it won't define us."
Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo to BBC Sport: "Very pleased with how we started the game and the football we played. We were solid in our defending - it was a very good first half.
"The combinations were really good, beautiful goals.
"Pre-season was not very good. Chris Wood delivers when it really matters, so we are delighted."