Having shut Brentford out and limited them to few opportunities, Nottingham Forest received a suck punch from Thomas Frank’s side this afternoon, losing 2-1 at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Danilo’s goal on the stroke of half-time gave Forest their third away goal in two games, an area they have struggled in all season, and as the second half went on, Brentford hardly troubled Keylor Navas.
But two crucial moments changed the game.
Cheikhou Kouyate turnd his body in the wall for Ivan Toney’s freekick - a cardinal sin for any relegation threatened side - and Keylor Navas was unable to keep the powerful shot out of the bottom corner.
Agonisingly, in the 94th minute Josh Da Silva’s effort creeped into the same bottom corner, with Keylor Navas clearly unsighted in his attempt to save the shot.
VAR checked the goal and considered Brentford’s Wissa to be onside, therefore not interfering with play.
Despite the solid away showing, Forest miss out on a chance to put some daylight between them and their relegation rivals and will now be relying on other results to keep them above the bottom 3.
Here our the player ratings after an agonising loss:
1. Keylor Navas - 7
Made a couple of outstanding saves yet again and was let down by his wall for Brentford’s equaliser. Incredibly unlucky for the second as he was unsighted. Deserved more from the game.
2. Renan Lodi- 7
Lodi was well beaten in the run up to Brentford’s second goal but put on yet another strong performance for Forest. Photo: Shaun Botterill
3. Joe Worrall - 7
Strong performance from Worrall, who dominated aerially and was in all the right positions throughout the game. Didn’t put a foot wrong.
4. Felipe - 6
Another solid performance where the defence really mattered. Cooper set the side up well and were unlucky to lose the game.