Nottingham Forest dented Brentford’s hopes of automatic promotion as a Filip Krovinovic equaliser, midway through the second half, meant the game ended 1-1 in the Sky Bet Championship.
Both sides struggled to finish their chances throughout the game as the Bees dropped points from a winning position, for the second game in a row.
This draw meant the Bees sit in fourth place behind Swansea City, who have a game in hand as they play later on this weekend. Forest, however, are now 10 points clear of the drop zone with eight games to play.
Story of the match
Thomas Frank didn't make a single change to his Brentford side that lost a 2-0 lead to Derby County during the midweek draw. Their opponents, who were winless in their last five games, made four changes, with Brice Samba returning in between the sticks and Gaetan Bong and Cafu also coming into the starting XI for Tyler Blackett and Ryan Yates. Alex Mighten was also recalled to make only his seventh start of the season.
In the 10th minute, Ivan Toney drew a foul inside the box as the striker was brought down by Bong as a corner was delivered into the danger area. Toney stepped up and cooly placed the ball into the bottom right corner, sending Samba the wrong way, to put the Bees 1-0 up.
Despite the bright start to the first half, the home side failed to test Forest's goalkeeper. Sergi Canos attempted a long range effort in the 21st minute but it was blocked, falling to Toney. He attempted to follow up from 25-yards out, however, the ball is dragged well wide of the goal.
Minutes later, Mighten threw himself to the ground as he looked for a penalty. Graham Scott, the referee, was having none of it and booked the winger for simulation.
Past the midway point of the first half, the Bees hit the woodwork twice as Vitaly Janelt peeled away from his marker at the back post to rattle the bar with his effort before Henrik Dalsgaard hit the post from a yard out as he tried to react pounce on the rebound.
On the stroke of halftime, Lewis Grabban saw his header sail over the crossbar from close range, stopping Forest equalising before the break.
The second half started slower than the first. The first 10 minutes saw a few wild attempts from either side, trying to test the two goalkeepers from distance but nothing to worry Raya and Samba.
Nonetheless, in the 56th minute, the best chance of the half came for Brentford. Bong came to the rescue for the visitors as he made a goalsaving block as Toney laid it off for Mbeumo but the Forest man throws his body in the way to prevent the Bees extending the lead.
Deservedly, Forest equalised halfway through the second half. It seemed that Mathias Jensen was fouled in the build-up by Cafu as the Portuguese man dragged the Bees midfielder down to the floor but nothing was given by the referee. Following the challenge, Krovinovic capitalised on a poor clearance from Winston Reid to level the scoring.
In the latter stages, Saman Ghoddos and Toney linked up very well before the substitute unleashes a shot that bulges the side netting from 20-yards.
Disappointingly, neither side could take their chances to snatch three points from central London as it is two points dropped by the hosts but one point gained for struggling Forest.
Takeaways
Brentford struggling to capitalise on their chances
In the 90 minutes of football, the Bees had a total of 22 shots against Forest's eight. Despite sitting in fourth place in the Championship with the league's top goalscorer, Brentford could not put the ball in the back of net to double their lead after an impressive first 45 minutes.
Just like their midweek game against Derby County, Brentford could not take advantage of their good performance to seal the win.
Breaking down their 22 shots; four were on target, nine went wide of the goal frame, eight were blocked and two hit the woodwork.
Frank will hope that his side can change their misfortunes in their remaining nine games in the Sky Bet Championship.
Man of the match
The man of the match in the clash was Ivan Toney. The striker created the most chances in the match, including scoring the opening goal. He also had a high pass success rate of 80% while also shutting down Forest's attack with two vital blocks. Completing another 90 minutes, the 25-year-old remains the league's top goalscorer.