Taiwo Awoniyi and Nottingham Forest laboured to a 1-1 draw with Brentford in their Premier League match at the City Ground on Sunday afternoon.
After Brentford took the lead, ten-man Forest side needed to step it up and avoid defeat in front of their home fans. On the other hand, Brentford took their Premier League winless run to five games after failing to keep the lead.
Forest came into this game on the back of a 2-0 loss to Manchester City at Etihad Stadium, while Brentford were well beaten 3-1 by Everton last weekend.
Head Coach Steve Cooper made three changes to the side which narrowly lost to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium last time out, with Callum Hudson-Odoi, Anthony Elanga and Murillo coming in, with the latter making his debut for the club.
Awoniyi’s early goal ruled out for Nottingham Forest
The Reds made a strong start to the match, with Elanga going past Aaron Hickey and the defender was subsequently booked for the foul.
In the eighth minute, Taiwo Awoniyi thought he had taken the lead after Murillo flicked on Hudson-Odoi’s corner to convert from close-range, but the Nigerian striker’s finish was rightly ruled out for offside.
Taiwo Awoniyi has his goal disallowed for offside, Frank Onyeka features off the bench (21 mins) as 10-man Nottingham Forest hold Brentford to a draw.#NFOBRE #PL pic.twitter.com/rtdCaZ9fsQ
— Home of Nigerian Football (@EaglesTrackerNG) October 1, 2023
Following the controversy that followed the Spurs v Liverpool match, the lines were drawn correctly and confirmed the offside decision, ensuring that the Bees would not concede inside the opening 10 minutes in successive weeks.
Levelled at the break
It certainly took Brentford a while to play their way into the contest, but chances were still few and far between for the West Londoners. The ongoing absence of Ivan Toney continued to affect their play, but the Reds would not care.
Fortunately for Thomas Frank’s side, the first half failed to come alive with no shot on target, as the referee called time on the first half.
Second half comes alive
Brentford made a fine start to the second half, and they were nearly gifted the lead in weird fashion when Yoane Wissa tackled Forest ‘keeper Matt Turner. The American keeper was fortunate though, as the ball made its way towards goal, but defender Willy Boly was on hand to clear the ball off the line.
Moments later, Brentford took the lead. Forest player Moussa Niakhaté was dismissed for a second yellow card, before Christian Nørgaard headed home the resulting free-kick.
The Bees stepped it up after the goal but it was just for a while. Forest got back on level terms when Nicolás Domínguez headed home Harry Toffolo’s cross on his home league debut.
The home side got back to their shell and decided to defend the game from that point. Despite playing almost the second half with an extra man, the visitors failed to capitalize, even with the luxury of 13 minutes’ injury time.
It was a good result for the home side, while Thomas Frank’s side will be disappointed they could not take advantage and get a win that has evaded them in a while.
Nottingham Forest will face Crystal Palace next on match day eight, while Brentford will be guests of Manchester United.
This article was most recently revised and updated 4 weeks ago
