Brentford grind out 2-0 win as Forest's wayward finishing persists

Brentford beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 at the Gtech Community Stadium, a result that left Oliver Glasner's side still inside the Premier League relegation zone despite out-shooting their hosts by 15 attempts to six.

Dango Ouattara beat Murillo down the Brentford right after half an hour and sent in a cross that deflected off Nikola Milenković and past his own goalkeeper to open the scoring. According to the Guardian, Brentford's second goal also took a heavy deflection off the Forest defender, though it was credited as a goal for a Brentford player rather than a second own goal.

Mathias Jensen almost extended the lead soon after when his free-kick struck the crossbar, in a first half that largely went Brentford's way before Forest came back into the contest after the interval.

Forest's profligacy in front of goal continued to undermine their position. Ryan Yates headed over from a Morgan Gibbs-White cross early in the second half, and further promising moves broke down before Caoimhín Kelleher was seriously examined in the Brentford goal.

Liam Delap's struggles since his £50m move from Chelsea persisted too. The 23-year-old had three shots without finding the target before he was substituted 20 minutes into the second half, a finishing slump the Guardian described as increasingly stark compared with his form at Ipswich.

The Guardian noted Forest went into the weekend third in Opta's expected-goals table but third from bottom in the actual Premier League standings, underlining how badly their underperformance against expected metrics has hurt them this season. The defeat was their sixth successive loss in a Premier League fixture played on Hallowe'en.

Brentford head coach Keith Andrews rated the win above his side's earlier 3-0 victories over Tottenham and Chelsea, even though Saturday's performance offered less attacking freedom. "It's probably our best win of the season because you've got to show different traits to some of the other games," he said, as quoted by Yahoo Sports.

Andrews pointed to a punishing week before Forest's visit as context for the manner of the win. Brentford had drawn 1-1 at Hull City the previous Sunday before losing at Sunderland in the Carabao Cup in midweek, a tie in which they conceded three first-half goals after Andrews made eight changes.

"I think the schedule this week, for a start, hasn't been favourable to us. That's two cup rounds in a row where we've had the most condensed week out of anybody," Andrews said. Forest, by contrast, had not played since drawing at Ipswich Town nine days earlier.

Despite Forest's position in the relegation zone, Andrews had cautioned beforehand that their underlying numbers did not match their results. He praised his players for coping with the pressure Forest's attackers exerted after half-time. "They've got some very talented players that you have to keep quiet and you have to keep your concentration and focus," he said.

Andrews added that his side had not always managed difficult spells well in recent weeks, pointing to the sending-off against Liverpool, the penalty conceded at Hull and defensive errors at Sunderland as recurring issues. Against Forest, he felt his team showed more of the composure he had been demanding, particularly during the periods when Brentford were forced to defend without the ball.