Nottingham Forest will celebrate Christmas in the Premier League's top four after they handed Brentford their first home defeat of the season with an impressive 2-0 victory at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.
Although Brentford dominated possession, Forest put in the hard yards before goals from Ola Aina and Anthony Elanga helped the visitors move provisionally up to third with 31 points.
This team. 🩵 pic.twitter.com/2vd9Z4Lkho
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) December 21, 2024
Brentford were unbeaten at home in 10 games in all competitions, which included nine victories, but the loss leaves them 12th in the standings with 23 points.
"Most of the players were on the floor at the end. It's difficult to come here," Elanga said. "It wasn't easy to get three points, but it was important to get them and now we just need to keep going.
"We're full of confidence right now. We lost to Man City a few weeks back and that didn't take our confidence away. It just shows the camaraderie we have as a team and the relationship we have with each other and the manager."
Brentford gave Forest an early scare when they nearly went ahead in the fourth minute after Mikkel Damsgaard found space in the box to shoot, forcing goalkeeper Matz Sels into a save.
But Forest gradually grew into the game and nearly took the lead when top scorer Chris Wood tested Mark Flekken with a header that forced the goalkeeper into a reaction save.
Forest went ahead in the 38th minute when a cross from Neco Williams went through the Brentford defence with the centre backs marking Wood and the ball fell to an unmarked Aina, who fired into the bottom corner to make it 1-0.
Brentford are behind at home! 😧
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 21, 2024
Neco Williams’ driven cross falls to Ola Aina, whose strike finds the bottom-left corner, giving @NFFC the lead 🌳#BRENFO pic.twitter.com/sfiYqJs30M
"It's a bit of a dream (to be in the top four). It's good to get the three points and good for the fans. They deserve it as well," Aina said.
"We're working well as a group. (Manager Nuno Espirito Santo) has his philosophy and he's brought that into the club."
They doubled their lead six minutes into the second half when Brentford defender Keane Lewis-Potter had a heavy touch and Elanga pounced to steal the ball from him near the box before guiding his shot into the far corner.
That goal woke Brentford up and they had a spell of possession where Bryan Mbeumo created several opportunities, with one of his headers falling to Kristoffer Ajer who had his shot parried away by Sels.
Brentford threw everything they had at Forest late in the second half but Espirito Santo, who was celebrating a year in charge, ensured Forest kept the Bees at bay for the rest of the game to seal the three points.