Brentford 2-0 Nottingham Forest: Andrews’ Bees beat the side with nine days’ prep after trips to Hull and Sunderland

Keith Andrews had been to Hull and Sunderland in the space of a week, and Nottingham Forest had nine days to get ready. It still finished 2-0 to the Bees at Gtech Community Stadium.

Brentford marked their 100th Premier League game at the ground with their third league win of the season, thanks to a Nikola Milenković own goal on the half-hour and a late finish from Igor Thiago.

The visitors, Nottingham Forest, went into Saturday’s game in the relegation zone, and they won by this same score on the same ground back in January. There was no repeat.

Andrews had warned that this would be “the toughest game we’ve had in the last seven to eight days”, and there were spells when it looked it. His side had to soak up a good deal of pressure before the second goal came.

How did the Bees break Forest down?

Andrews made just one change, with Vitaly Janelt back from suspension in place of Aaron Hickey. It was open early. Mamadou Sangaré whistled a volley just over and Thiago dragged a shot wide of Matz Sels’ post, while at the other end Liam Delap sent an ambitious effort on the turn well off target, Kristoffer Ajer raced across to block him, and James McAtee’s shot from outside the area bounced inches wide of the far post.

The breakthrough came from the right. Dango Ouattara skipped past Murillo and into the box, and his low cross from the byline was turned into his own net by Milenković.

Jensen nearly doubled the lead six minutes later, lifting a dipping free-kick over the wall and against the crossbar after Milenković had tripped Kevin Schade on the edge of the area.

Brentford 2-0 Nottingham Forest: the bench made the second

Forest came out with more after the break. Caoimhín Kelleher dived bravely at Delap’s feet two minutes after the restart, Ryan Yates put a stooping header over from a Morgan Gibbs-White delivery, and substitute Arnaud Kalimuendo had a shot blocked by Sepp van den Berg moments after coming on.

From the corner that followed, Gibbs-White headed towards goal and it was Thiago, of all people, who was there to clear it.

Then the changes paid off. Hickey, on from the bench after losing his starting spot, fizzed a pass out to Jaidon Anthony on the right on 76 minutes, and Anthony picked out Thiago in the box. His shot deflected off Milenković and came down off the underside of the bar on its way in.

That’s a miserable afternoon for Milenković in one line: an own goal, the foul that led to Jensen hitting the bar, and the deflection on the second.

What did Keith Andrews say about the schedule?

The Brentford head coach was pleased, and he had a point to make about the fixture list as well.

Andrews said: “I’m very proud of the performance. We showed different ways of playing today.”

He added: “We’ll never, ever make any excuses, but the scheduling doesn’t do us any favours when it comes to cup competitions. A lot of travel. They’ve had nine days’ prep for this game, and they’re a very difficult team to play against. You’ve got to be switched on throughout the game and not get frustrated.”

The instruction to his players was just as plain: “It was never going to be the prettiest of games today, I knew that. The big message to the players was stay patient, stay true to who we are, do the basics of the game really well.”

‘Keep believing in me’

Thiago, whose form had Chelsea making an initial enquiry back in March, used his post-match words to thank the supporters.

The striker said: “I’m delighted to score one more goal for Brentford. I must thank the fans because they have been so supportive of me for the whole journey. When people believe in you, you feel like you can go even more. So, I want to say to them: keep believing in me, keep trusting in me, and in the end everything will go well.”

Who is still missing for Brentford?

Fábio Carvalho won’t be back until after the November international break, and Rico Henry, with a hip and quad problem, is out for the same period. Both were on our gameweek 9 injury list.

Andrews said of Carvalho: “Fábio picked up a knock about 10 days to two weeks ago, so he’s going to be out up until after the international break.”

Going into this one, the Bees had lost just once in the league all season, at home to Liverpool a fortnight earlier. They’ve now added a third win to that record without two of their squad options.

Is the table lying about Forest?

Andrews thinks so. Before the game he said you would “get a false sense of where they’re at with their performances” by looking at the table, and that Oliver Glasner’s side would be in a very different position if they kept playing the way they have been.

We can see what he means, as Forest created enough here to have made it awkward. But good spells don’t lift you out of trouble, and neither Delap nor Kalimuendo beat Kelleher. Wood came on too and it changed nothing, which is why it makes sense that Forest are reportedly ready to rival Man United for Jean-Philippe Mateta in January.

For Brentford, this was the sort of win that good seasons are made of: a heavy week, an ugly afternoon, a bench that made the difference and a striker asking only to be trusted. We’d say he has earned it.