Barnsley vs Nottingham Forest. Sky Bet Championship.
Oakwell StadiumAttendance13,180.
Friday 25 November 2016 23:11, UK
Henri Lansbury scored a hat-trick as Nottingham Forest beat 10-man Barnsley 5-2 in a highly-entertaining Sky Bet Championship clash on Friday night.
Forest had to come from behind twice early on at Oakwell, as Lansbury's free-kick cancelled out Sam Winnall's early goal for Barnsley, before Apostolos Vellios levelled again after Marley Watkins had put the Tykes back in front.
Lansbury scored again to put Forest ahead on the stroke of half-time, and Ben Osborn added another just after the hour mark to make it 4-2.
Watkins then saw red for Barnsley soon afterwards, before Lansbury completed his hat-trick with a penalty in the 82nd minute to seal a second-straight away win for Forest.
Winnall was at the heart of everything good about Barnsley in the first half, and he started and finished the move that gave them the lead in the fifth minute.
The striker dropped deep to pick up the ball before playing in James Bree, who combined well down the right with Watkins before surging forward and delivering a perfect cross into the path of Winnall, who had got up the pitch himself to head home.
It was the perfect start for Paul Heckingbottom's side, but Forest were back level eight minutes later from Lansbury's free-kick, as he smashed a low drive past Adam Davies from 25 yards.
Parity, however, would last just over a minute, and Barnsley deservedly moved 2-1 in front during a chaotic opening period thanks to Watkins, who broke Forest's offside trap to latch onto Conor Hourihane's ball over the top before calmly chesting down and finishing past Vladimir Stojkovic.
Forest, again, were not to be disheartened, and they equalised for the second time in the 24th minute as Vellios converted a low cross with his shin from six yards out.
Barnsley dominated the rest of the first half, but it was Phillippe Montanier's Forest who would strike next just before the interval.
Josh Scowen was the guilty party as he lost the ball on halfway, and Forest countered through Osborn, who burst down the left before crossing for Lansbury to steer a superb diving header into the corner from 12 yards and make it 3-2.
Barnsley came out back on the attack after the restart, but the game got beyond them in three second-half minutes as Forest extended their advantage before the home side went down to 10 men.
Osborn's glancing header from Michael Mancienne's cross made it 4-2 after 63 minutes, and moments later Watkins saw red for his needless stamp on Thomas Lam.
That incident effectively ended the game as a contest, and Lansbury's 82nd-minute penalty after Scowen had fouled substitute Matty Cash ensured Forest's rise to 16th in the table with 22 points, ahead of Barnsley on goal difference.
Barnsley boss Paul Heckingbottom:
"We speak a lot about being ruthless at both ends of the pitch, and our goals were really well worked. Not taking anything away from Forest, but we gave them every single goal, and that's what we're disappointed with.
"When you go behind in this league it's tough to come back from. We went in front twice but gave Forest a way back in [both times] and that's how we've got beaten today."
Nottingham Forest boss Philippe Montanier:
"I wasn't especially satisfied after the first 20 minutes we played, but after that it was a good reaction. We were efficient and I'm very proud as always of our squad.
"We now have two successive victories and we needed to win because our position [in the Sky Bet Championship table] is not good. After [beating] Ipswich we played well, and it was important to win this game."
