Igor Thiago scored his second Premier League goal of the season as Brentford beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 at the Gtech Community Stadium, with a Nikola Milenkovic own goal setting the Bees on their way.
Forest actually had more of the ball — 58 per cent possession — but Brentford were sharper, smarter and far more clinical in the moments that decided this Premier League clash in west London.
The breakthrough arrived on the half hour, and it was a horror moment for Milenkovic. The Forest defender turned the ball into his own net to give Brentford a 1-0 lead, and his afternoon got worse six minutes later when he was booked. The Sky Sports match centre records a first half in which Forest huffed but created almost nothing of note.
Forest Changes Change Nothing
Oliver Glasner tried to shake his side up at half-time, introducing Daniel Munoz for Ola Aina and Ryan Yates, but Forest's forward line — Liam Delap leading it, with Morgan Gibbs-White and James McAtee behind — remained blunt. Chris Wood and Arnaud Kalimuendo were thrown on after the hour, yet Caoimhin Kelleher's goal was rarely threatened.
Brentford, meanwhile, managed the game with the maturity that has become their trademark. Michael Kayode was booked as the Bees protected their lead, and Mikkel Damsgaard's introduction added fresh legs in midfield.
Thiago Seals It
The points were made safe on 76 minutes. Jaidon Anthony, introduced from the bench just four minutes earlier in place of Dango Ouattara, set up Igor Thiago to score Brentford's second and spark relief around the Gtech. The timeline in theScore's match centre credits Anthony with the assist — a substitution that paid off almost instantly.
Thiago's season has been debated after his record-breaking campaign last year, but goals win arguments, and the Brazilian's finish here was the touch of a striker rediscovering his timing at exactly the right moment for his team.
Forest's frustration showed in the foul count — 17 conceded to Brentford's six — and in further bookings for Munoz and McAtee as the game slipped away in front of a crowd of 17,108.
So What Does It Mean?
Brentford move on to 14 points from nine games, settled in the top half and looking every inch a side that knows its identity: compact without the ball, devastating in the decisive moments. Back-to-back home solidity like this is the foundation of another impressive season.
Forest, by contrast, stay on six points with just one win from nine, deep in the relegation picture. Glasner's side had the ball but not the belief, and a defence gifting own goals cannot survive at this level. Their cup defeat at Sunderland in midweek, reported in our Carabao Cup report from the Stadium of Light, went the other way for Brentford's opponents today — but in the league, the Bees were the ones celebrating.
Brentford also took a point from their draw at Hull last weekend, and this win keeps their momentum rolling into November.
Beyond the Final Whistle verdict: Brentford did not need to be brilliant — they needed to be ruthless, and they were. Forest's season is quietly becoming a crisis: possession without punch, and errors without end.
Are Forest genuine relegation candidates already, or will Glasner turn this around? Let us know what you think in the comment section.
