Nottingham Forest's Champions League hopes fading as Brentford blow race wide open

Nuno Espirito Santo’s season of promise is in danger of imploding after a second decisive blow in five days.

The Portuguese had masterminded Forest’s meteoric rise to the upper reaches of the with a plan built on defensive solidity. But Thomas Frank’s away-day specialists caught them cold with a strike in each half that will leave the home boss fuming.

Coming as it did after the emotional heartache of an semi-final defeat to , the pain of this defeat will be even more acutely felt. Two lofted balls straight through the heart of the usually-reliable home rearguard were poked home by Kevin Schade and Yoane Wissa.

Forest have been a tough nut to crack on their own patch - before last night they had only tasted defeat once in their last ten outings in front of their own support. But the hosts lacked their usual cutting edge and appeared off the pace against Frank’s sprightly side.

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Perhaps the outcome should not have been unexpected. The Bees’ form away from west London is among the best in the division - since , they have lost just once on their travels.

And with Forest still smarting from the emotion of a defeat in the FA Cup semi-final to Manchester City, the warning was clear. It took a super stop from point-blank range by Mats Sels to keep out the first effort of note.

Sepp van de Berg was six yards out and with the goal at his mercy as he stooped to meet Mikkel Damsgaard’s free-kick. The match's pattern changed, however, when the Bees opened the scoring in the penultimate minute of the half.

Bees' stopper Nathan Collins struck a long free-kick over the top of centre-half Nikola Milenkovic. Forest full-back Ola Aina read the play correctly and got himself the right side of the ball, only for Schade to pressure him into slipping over.

That left the forward with the simplest of jobs to slip the ball past Sels who had committed himself. Anthony Elanga - who had caused problems in the opening half - switched wings after the interval.

The Sweden international was still causing havoc, though, as he finally brought a save out of Brentford keeper Mark Flekken. With 30 minutes to go, Nuno decided to go for broke. He swapped a forward for a midfielder.

And although it gave Forest added impetus up front, they were hit with a second with 20 minutes left. Flekken belted the ball upfield, it went uncontested as Murillo and his opponent failed to make a connection.

It bounced and Wissa had sprinted the wrong side of Milenkovic. Sels was in No Man’s Land and the forward had the simplest of jobs to touch the ball past him and into the net.

Nuno admitted he was worried after the Bees went route one to victory and said he failed to recognise his side after complaining it was ‘too easy’ for Frank’s men to carry off three points. The Forest boss said: “Clean sheets are our main and basic pillar - but this was the other way around.

“We are compact and solid and don’t give away chances - but it was too easy for our opponents today. I see the belief, desire, and commitment, but we are struggling in some aspects of our game.

“We’ve lost focus and the determination to be practical - and solve the situations that are simple to solve.” Brentford looked sharper throughout and Nuno admitted there might have been a hangover from the FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester City.

He said: “There is a fitness issue in our players. We feel it. We don’t see it. But we are here because we deserve to be. I’m not concerned about what’s coming, I’m concerned about how we can be ourselves against Palace. This has to be - and it is - my major concern.”

Delighted Brentford chief Frank said: “It was a fantastic win - we’ve found a way to do that on the road - unlike in the early part of the season. We’re conceding less than one goal per game - but you can take nothing for granted in the Premier League.

“Some of my players are having the best seasons of their careers. We have four games left. We have a chance to finish eighth, which is the best in the club’s history.”

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