Magnificent 7: Nottingham Forest vs Brighton & Hove Albion
Nottingham Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion have cooked up some goal scoring frenzies over the last several years as the two clubs have battled it out at opposite ends of the Premier League table. Brighton’s model of ‘how to run a football club’ has been widely heralded as a shining example to other English clubs who are trying to compete and consolidate themselves amongst the ever growing quality that they find themselves up against week in, week out in the top division. With fourteen goals coming in the last four meetings between these two clubs, another goal fest may not have been a huge shock, but the manner in which it happened was certainly a big surprise to everyone inside the City Ground on Saturday afternoon.
We left Peterborough for West Bridgford earlier than usual on Saturday to make it in time for the early 12:30 kick off time and during our pre match ramblings it was agreed that a draw would be a satisfactory result for Forest considering the demolition that the reds were handed just a week prior to this game at the hands of Iraola’s Bournemouth. After a week of stewing over that result as Forest fans, a noticeable quantity of doubt had crept into our previously confident, assured mindset.
Photography courtesy of James Armstrong (IG: james_a_armstrong)
What caused the creeping negativity was not the defeat itself but more the manner of it. This season, Nuno’s side have built an identity and a platform on being defensively resolute and have become renowned for staying in games by being tough to score against. The way that Bournemouth set up to press high, win the ball and show their attacking quality proved to be the undoing of Forest, who collapsed. As recent history has proven time and time again, Bournemouth are Forest’s kryptonite. It wasn’t the first time that Forest had suffered a collapse this season, 3-0 defeats against Arsenal and Man City show that they aren’t unbreakable, but a 5-0 loss to a team without the stature of those two footballing behemoths was a lot harder to swallow.
On the 1st April 1995, Nottingham Forest secured their (previous) biggest ever victory in the Premier League when they beat Sheffield Wednesday 7-1 at Hillsborough as Stan Collymore, Bryan Roy, Ian Woan and Lars Bohinen proved to be too much to handle for a Wednesday defence that featured Des Walker. Since then Forest hadn’t won a Premier League game by a bigger margin, that is until last weekend in front of a buoyant home crowd who saw Forest break that record.
Photography courtesy of James Armstrong (IG: james_a_armstrong)
Earlier this season we referenced how Fabian Hürzeler’s Brighton team love to play a high line, and how it was exploited in the game between Brighton and Forest at the AMEX back in September last year. In the first meeting Jota Silva and Ramon Sosa combined to equalise for Forest in a second half where Brighton dominated possession but failed to make it count. The Forest attackers used their pace to run into the chasm behind the Seagulls defence. That high line and lack of pace in defence was once again exploited by Nuno but this time to a much more devastating effect.
The game was a tactical nightmare for Hürzeler, who made a dubious decision to go for an ultra attack minded 4-1-4-1 formation, with 19 year old Jack Hinshelwood being the only recognised central midfielder in the line up. Prior to the game, the away team looked strong on paper with exciting attacking talents such as Minteh, Rutter, Mitoma, Joao Pedro and Welbeck all starting the game. Unfortunately for Hürzeler, ‘the game is played on grass’ not on paper, as Brian Clough once said. Perhaps the German manager took some inspiration from the game a week beforehand, seeing Bournemouth play on the front foot and get the better of Nuno, but a totally different Forest team came out of the tunnel on Saturday and they were out to avenge themselves.
Photography courtesy of James Armstrong (IG: james_a_armstrong)
We took our place in the Upper Bridgford safe standing section, apprehensive but still full of excitement to see what the next chapter of this wild, unpredictable season had in store for us. Brighton started the game quite brightly and tried to assert their authority early on. Hürzeler would have known that getting the first goal against Nuno’s side was imperative as when Forest get in front, we usually win. Forest weren’t panicked by Brighton’s attacking intentions. They looked calm and composed, they looked like themselves again. Maybe the Bournemouth game was just a blip after all.
The tone was set on the 12th minute as Morgan Gibbs-White burst into space on the right channel and put in a dangerous ball across the box, Lewis Dunk sliced the cross through his own net to score what was remarkably his 7th own goal in the Premier League. That unwanted record places him behind only Richard Dunne as the player with the most own goals in Premier League history. The early goal went some way in helping to relieve any lingering nerves early doors and the celebrations that were sparked across the City Ground replicated that feeling.
Photography courtesy of James Armstrong (IG: james_a_armstrong)
Forest were now in a confident mood and smelt blood as Brighton’s cracks began to show. Anthony Elanga’s whipped corner directly below us was met beautifully by captain Gibbs-White who doubled the lead, a goal that cemented Forest’s dominance in the match. Forest were now purring with self-assurance and Gibbs-White’s spectacular cross field pass for Neco Williams was one of the best passes that I’ve seen live, Williams brought the ball down well and worked his way into a shooting position but ended up hitting the post. By this point there was a real buzz of excitement in the Upper Bridgford and across the stadium as an initially apprehensive crowd turned into an expectant one, hungry for more goals.
The crowd got what they wanted and more. Nuno Espirito Santo made some clever tactical tweaks going into this game after the drubbing he witnessed last week, Morato and Danilo came into the starting 11 for Jota Silva and Ryan Yates, meaning a change in shape as Forest set up with Aina and Williams as wing backs in a 5-3-2/3-4-3 formation. Forest’s added width caused Brighton countless problems along with Elanga playing a more free role with Aina constantly getting up the pitch to help him on the right side. Forest’s third goal and Elanga’s second assist came after 32 minutes as Brighton were overpowered on their left flank and Elanga was allowed time and space to produce an exquisite cross for Chris Wood to head into the net at the back post. It was 3-0 before half time, we’d expected a tight game but the reality of what we were seeing was sending a real message to the rest of the league.
Danilo started his first game for Forest since his potential season-ending injury in our opener against Bournemouth. He played as if he’d never been away, slotting perfectly into the midfield alongside Elliot Anderson. Those two could forge an outstanding pairing in the middle of the park, with Danilo offering more fluidity and technical quality than Yates or Dominguez.
As the players walked out onto the pitch in the second half, they were treated to a rapturous reception. The half started quietly but Forest soon found their groove again as Anthony Elanga continued to put in a top class performance and his output was just as impressive. His quick, driving run and low cross meant that Chris Wood had a tap in to make it 4-0. Five minutes later and Forest had five to equal the scoreline that they suffered a week before, Chris Wood again ole ole.
Photography courtesy of James Armstrong (IG: james_a_armstrong)
Pure ruthlessness was shown after that, with the forlorn Brighton fans in the away section only able to look on helplessly as their side were being embarrassed. Five turned into six as Neco Williams smashed in a goal from close range which he thoroughly deserved, having come close on so many occasions previously. The magnificent seventh came in the 91st minute and was met by the fiercest reaction of the day from all four corners of the City Ground. It’s not the first time I’ve said this during the current season but we were witnessing something truly special. The noise and reaction to Jota Silva’s seventh goal was enormous and felt like a moment that would be talked about for years to come.
Photography courtesy of James Armstrong (IG: james_a_armstrong)
A great deal of credit has to be given to all the Brighton fans who had travelled over 150 miles to see their side put in an abject performance. As good as Forest were on the day, Brighton were extremely poor and that has to be noted. At least 80% of the away fans stayed until the end, and some managed to find humour in the situation, sarcastically celebrating a Brighton shot on target and joining in to cheer for our 6th and 7th goals.
Photography courtesy of James Armstrong (IG: james_a_armstrong)
For Forest though, the result sent a real message which was heard across the country. Forest are only the second team in Premier League history to suffer a defeat by five or more goals and then follow it by winning their next match by a margin of five or more. The only other team to do it was Sheffield Wednesday in 1995, when they lost 6-1 to Manchester United before beating Bolton Wanderers 5-0 in their next fixture. What it showed is that the defeat to Bournemouth hurt Nuno, and he demanded a reaction. The players didn’t just want to win last Saturday, they wanted to right all the wrongs of the result that came a week before.
Photography courtesy of James Armstrong (IG: james_a_armstrong)
It is undeniable now that this Forest team has a deep desire to continue to prove everybody wrong this season. They have already done that by getting to where they are in the table, but still onlookers await Forest’s inevitable downfall. That downfall still hasn’t happened. Every time we have threatened to fall apart, we’ve come back from it even stronger. The signs are showing that this team has the character and the mentality to go all the way.
Forest have a tough run to come, with Fulham (A), Newcastle (A), Arsenal (H) and Man City (H) to play in our next four games. If we can come out of that group of games relatively unscathed, then you'd think we could safely say that we are on course for European football.
Written by Joe Horne
Written by Joe Horne
