Forest 0-3 Brentford
Posted: Sat 02 Apr 2016
Author: Nick Richardson
Nottingham Forest suffered a 3-0 defeat against Brentford at The City Ground this afternoon.
Second-half goals from Lasse Vibe, Nico Yennaris and Sergi Canos handed the visitors a vital victory in their battle against relegation.
Forest found themselves down to ten men at 2-0 when Eric Lichaj received a second yellow card.
Head coach Paul Williams, taking charge of a Forest home game for the first time, handed Federico Macheda his City Ground debut on a sunny Trentside afternoon.
Chris Cohen continued in midfield, while Henri Lansbury returned to the bench following a three-month lay-off with an ankle injury.
There was early concern for Michael Mancienne when a stretcher was called for after he had fallen to the ground around the five-minute mark. Following treatment, he was deemed fit to continue.
Brentford claimed the first chance of the match when Ryan Woods got the wrong side of Mancienne and had two excellent crossing options in the middle. Matt Mills positioned himself well to turn the ball behind for a corner.
Mancienne was clearly still struggling with his earlier issue and was replaced by Kelvin Wilson on 25 minutes.
Shortly afterwards, Forest came close to taking the lead when Cohen showed good anticipation to win the ball in midfield before supplying Macheda to his left. The Italian's nifty footwork in the area bought him space for a shot but he could only find the side-netting.
Forest kept up their pressure, Gardner this time bursting forward but scuffing the ball wide from long range.
Brentford's Alan Judge was the next to try his luck from distance, striking the ball sweetly but causing no real concern for the in-form Dorus de Vries.
The Dutch keeper was given a tougher test on 34 minutes when Bees right back Maxime Colin got in behind the Forest defence and struck the ball powerfully towards goal from eight yards. De Vries reacted quickly to make a good save, pushing the ball away strongly.
Brentford were enjoying a promising spell and Leandro Rodriguez capitalised on Wilson's failed interception to present Sam Saunders with the ball on the edge of the area. Mills came across to cover and the Bees winger could only fire the ball over the bar. Wilson appeared to have injured himself in the incident but was able to continue.
Two half-chances followed for Cohen, both on his weaker right foot. The first came after Mendes' deflected shot fell to him on the edge of the area, however he could only fire the ball tamely at David Button. Two minutes later, Cohen and Ben Osborn had a nice interchange of passing down the left which led to the former bringing the ball across the edge of the area before seeing his shot blocked.
The visitors were forced into a first-half change of their own as the break loomed large, Vibe replacing the injured Leandro Rodriguez before the referee called time on a quiet half of football.
And it was the Brentford substitute who gave his side the lead four minutes after the restart, capitalising on a defensive mix-up to poke the ball beyond the helpless de Vries.
Shortly afterwards, Williams replaced Ryan Mendes with Lansbury in a straight right-midfield swap.
Brentford's Alan Judge found himself in the referee's notebook after hauling back Cohen, but the punishment ended there as Gardner could only only strike the ball straight at Button from the subsequent free-kick.
Mills was yellow-carded moments later when he conceded a foul in shooting range. Again the set-piece was a disappointment, however, and Lansbury launched a counter attack. The Reds outnumbered Brentford five-to-one but Macheda was unable to get his shot away before a defender made sufficient ground to block his effort.
That was to be the forward's last action as he was replaced by Oliver Burke in a straight swap - but there was nothing the newly-capped Scotland international could do to prevent his side from going 2-0 behind on 65 minutes.
The ball eventually came to Yennaris after both sides scrambled to gain control at a corner, and the Brentford man made no mistake in firing low past de Vries from eight yards.
Burke offered the home side's first response, bringing the ball into the area from the right before seeing his low shot saved by Button.
Lichaj then saw his well struck 75th-minute effort flash across goal and wide, but the American's game was over two minutes later when he was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Vibe.
It was three for Brentford late on when Vaughan conceded possession deep in his own half. The Bees worked the ball to substitute Canos in space and the Spaniard finished brilliantly from the edge of the area.
Seven minutes were added on at the end of the match, presenting Burke with the chance to twist and turn his man in the area before seeing his low cross deflect agonisingly away from Lansbury two yards out.
Cohen also tried his luck, firing a bouncing ball over the bar, before Gardner saw a long-range effort saved.
But Forest were unable to find the net in a match that ended 3-0 to the visitors.
Forest: de Vries, Lichaj, Mancienne (Wilson 25'), Mills (c), Jokic, Mendes (Lansbury 55'), Cohen, Vaughan, Gardner, Osborn, Macheda (O.Burke 64')
Subs not used: Evtimov, Fox, Blackstock, Tesche
Bookings: Mills 61', Lansbury 66', Lichaj 72'
Sent off: Lichaj 77'
Brentford: Button, Colin (Clarke 86'), Bidwell, Dean, Saunders (Canos 70'), McCormack, Woods, Judge, Rodriguez (Vibe 44'), Yennaris, Barbet
Subs not used: Bonham, Kerschbaumer, O'Connell, Gogia
Goals: Vibe 49', Yennaris 65', Canos 87'
Bookings: McCormack 20', Judge 58', Barbet 60', Dean 86'
Referee: Peter Bankes
Attendance: 19,444 (783 away)
Read more at
https://www.nottinghamforest.co.uk/news/a...cdr5LbADEbVx.99
