Joshua Dasilva scored a stoppage-time winner to help Brentford produce one of the narrow football results of the weekend in the Premier League. Danilo’s goal just before halftime gave Steve Cooper’s team a comfortable three-point lead, but Forest, and especially custodian Keylor Navas, threw away their advantage. Ivan Toney’s free kick went too easily past the wall with less than ten minutes remaining, rebounded off the post, squirmed through Navas’ body, and went into the bottom corner. The Gtech Community Stadium erupted in celebration as replacement Josh Dasilva scored in the 94th minute, smashing the ball past Navas’ near post. Cooper made it known that he could challenge the call when VAR determined that Yoane Wissa of Brentford was not blocking Navas’ view of the pitch.
The game got off to a lethargic start, with Forest failing to threaten the Brentford goal once in the first 41 minutes. While this was going on, Brentford was unable to penetrate the opposition’s backline. Bryan Mbeumo and Kevin Schade both hit long shots and headers straight at Navas. Four minutes before halftime, the game sprang to life. David Raya, the Bees’ custodian, attempted to save Brennan Johnson’s cross but was unable to do so, allowing Taiwo Awoniyi to miss the open goal.
Ethan Pinnock’s long-range attempt following a goalmouth scramble was well-saved low down by Navas at the other end, and Mikkel Damsgaard pounced on the rebound. However, the Brentford midfielder could only prod the ball straight at Navas from a yard out, and minutes later, Forest were ahead. Morgan Gibbs-White’s attempt to clear a corner was thwarted by Danilo, who then shot past Raya and into the top corner. In the second half, a resolute visitor defense prevented Brentford from creating many opportunities despite having a lot of possession.
Moussa Niakhate and Ben Mee both had spectacular chances to score in the opening minutes of the second period, shooting straight at Raya from one end of the pitch and the other, respectively. Forest was cruising to three points with ten minutes remaining. However, Toney’s free-kick missed the post and went around the flimsy Forest wall. The ball then deflected off Navas’ body and into the bottom corner, where it may have gone in otherwise. As Aaron Hickey missed the target and Navas denied Frank Onyeka’s deflected shot on the goal line, the pressure mounted.
However, substitute Dasilva made a too-easy inside cut, allowing his close-range shot to slip through Navas’ gloves and into the near post. Fellow replacement Yoane Wissa had a quick VAR examination for offside, but he was millimeters onside despite maybe blocking Navas’ vision. The goal-given graphic sparked a thunderous scream in the Brentford home end, advancing them to extra time. If I’m being really honest, it’s been difficult to accept. Being the third game in a week and with both teams playing on Wednesday with a short turnaround, I believe it was always going to be a bit of a tired game. I had the impression that there would be some close calls and some decision-making in the game.
“If I’m being really honest, it’s been difficult to accept. Being the third game in a week and with both teams playing on Wednesday with a short turnaround, I believe it was always going to be a bit of a tired game. Small margins and some decision-making, as I had anticipated, ultimately determined the outcome of the game,” Nottingham Forest head coach Steve Cooper said. “We need to win games; as you can see from the guys, there is no lack of cohesion, grit, or determination. We accepted that Brentford would have the ball, but they weren’t playing us through, and they weren’t producing quality chances on our goal. They are great at set pieces and really threaten you with them, but we were terrific at defending them. They are a straightforward squad that can put you to the test from behind, and while we handled everything well, we were unable to score the two goals, which lost us the game.”
“We really had a six-game losing streak before winning the previous two games, however, it’s debatable if those were our best efforts since there were far greater efforts in the games we lost. We didn’t play that well today,” Brentford boss Thomas Frank said.
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