Nottingham Forest vs Brighton and Hove Albion. Premier League.
The City GroundAttendance28,808.
Report and free match highlights as Nottingham Forest end winless run to boost survival hopes; Morgan Gibbs-White's penalty and Danilo strike in second half claims first victory since February 5 after Pascal Gross own goal had cancelled Facundo Buonanotte's opener for Brighton
Thursday 27 April 2023 09:49, UK
Nottingham Forest boosted their Premier League survival hopes with a priceless 3-1 victory over Brighton but manager Steve Cooper insisted it was not the time for celebration with safety yet to be secured.
Forest's winless run threatened to extend to 12 games when 18-year-old Facundo Buonanotte's gave Brighton the lead after Brennan Johnson had seen his early penalty saved by Seagulls stopper Jason Steele.
Brighton dominated the first half but Forest grabbed a lifeline on the stroke of half-time when Renan Lodi's cross was turned into the Brighton net by Pascal Gross.
It proved to be the catalyst Steve Cooper's battling side needed as they went ahead through Danilo's well-taken strike before Morgan Gibbs-White's stoppage-time penalty sealed a vital victory.
Forest's first win since February 5 moves them out of the bottom three, a point clear of 18th-place Leicester, with five games remaining to save their top-flight status. For Brighton, defeat dents their bid for European qualification and leaves them in eighth position, 10 points outside the top four.
"I'm over the moon," Cooper said. "I'm so pleased for the players and the supporters, but we haven't won for months and I don't think we can win a game and celebrate too much.
"I was walking off the pitch thinking about getting ready for Brentford. We have got a lot of work to do and I want everybody in tomorrow working even harder than they did today. That has to be the mentality."
After Sunday's painful FA Cup semi-final elimination against Manchester United at Wembley, Brighton looked set to endure yet more penalty heartache when Pervis Estupinan clumsily fouled Neco Williams to hand Nottingham Forest a spot-kick inside nine minutes.
But Forest's topscorer Johnson, who was restored to the starting line-up after being dropped at Liverpool last weekend, was denied the opener by a brilliant diving save from Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele.
Steele's heroics, and the loss of Moussa Niakhate to injury, dampened the mood inside the City Ground and Forest nearly found themselves behind just after the quarter-hour mark, with Julio Enciso's shot from Kaoru Mitoma's cutback forcing a stunning, flying save from Keylor Navas.
But having kept Forest in the game, Navas would be at fault as Brighton finally converted a chance. The Chilean's poor goal-kick handed possession straight back to the visitors and then he could only palm Solly March's shot into the path of Buonanotte, who slotted the rebound.
Brighton would go on to dominate the remainder of the first half but, to their credit, Forest crucially hauled themselves level deep into stoppage time, as Renan Lodi's cross was turned in by Gross at the near post, with Steele only able to get a hand on it.
To go into the break level was huge for Forest but they almost fell behind just shy of the hour, with Mitoma shanking a shot wide after a sweeping counter attack.
A nasty injury to Williams, who left the field on a stretched after colliding with team-mate Johnson, further dented Forest's cause until the momentum swung in their favour decisively on 69 minutes.
Danilo's intercepted the ball in midfield and then raced in behind to gather Taiwo Awoniyi's through pass before racing into the final third and slotting past Steele.
Gibbs-White curled over as Forest missed the chance to put the game to bed sooner, but the nerves were settled in stoppage time when he converted their second penalty of the night after Dunk compounded an off-colour Brighton display with a mindless handball in the area.
Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper: "Delighted, the result is always the most important thing but definitely at this moment in time. There were loads of positives, but it is a good win, you have to enjoy them until we leave the dressing room and drive out because we have got another game on Saturday and we have to be really ready for it. We have to be ready for Brentford.
"We have to look after ourselves, if you get the results you need things will take care of themselves with league position. We managed to get the win tonight. Let's try and improve it again on Saturday and that has to be the only thing we are thinking about.
"I'm over the moon, I'm so pleased for the players and the supporters, but we haven't won for months and I don't think we can win a game and celebrate too much.
"I was walking off the pitch thinking about getting ready for Brentford. We have got a lot of work to do and I want everybody in tomorrow working even harder than they did today. That has to be the mentality."
Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi: "We deserved to lose the game, we played well for the first 35 minutes in the first half and then we lost energy. We didn't change too many players from Wembley, we knew it was a very tough game, we could have scored more goals in that 35 minutes and then we lost the spirit and energy.
"It's a difficult period for us because we are not used to playing three games in a week but we have to use it because we will play eight games and we have to fight to reach our target.
"For sure I am honest and I don't want to speak in this way when we lose the game. I am proud for my players today when we lost the game."
Morgan Gibbs-White has scored in his last two Premier League appearances, after failing to score in his previous 15 such matches. The midfielder has scored more goals against Brighton than any other opponent in the competition (2).
Nottingham Forest travel to Brentford on Saturday, kick-off 3pm, while Brighton host Wolves on the same day, also a 3pm kick-off.
April 29: Brentford (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 8: Southampton (H) - Premier League, kick-off 8pm, live on Sky Sports
May 13: Chelsea (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 20: Arsenal (H) - Premier League, kick-off 5.30pm
May 28: Crystal Palace (A) - Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm
April 29: Wolves (H) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 4: Man Utd (H) - Premier League, kick-off 8pm, live on Sky Sports
May 8: Everton (H) - Premier League, kick-off 5.30pm
May 13: Arsenal (A) - Premier League, kick-off 3pm
May 18: Newcastle (A) - Premier League, kick-off 7.30pm
May 21: Southampton (H) - Premier League, kick-off 2pm
May 24: Man City (H) - Premier League, kick-off 8pm, live on Sky Sports
May 28: Aston Villa (A) - Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm
