Milenković own goal and Igor Thiago earn Brentford a 2-0 win over Forest

Darren England refereed in front of 17,108. Keith Andrews sent Brentford out in a four-three-three: Kelleher in goal, Kayode, Ajer, van den Berg and Lewis-Potter across the back, Sangaré, Janelt and the captain Jensen in midfield, and Ouattara, Igor Thiago and Schade in attack. Oliver Glasner set Forest up in a three-four-two-one, Jair Cunha, Milenković and Murillo in a back three, Aina, McAtee, Schlager and Williams in front of them, and Ndoye and Gibbs-White supporting Delap.

The opening half had a single goal in it, and a Forest defender scored it. Milenković diverted the ball into his own net in the 30th minute and was booked in the 36th. Brentford reached the interval 1-0 up without a shot on target of their own, since their only one all match was the goal that came later.

Glasner reacted at the break with two changes, Muñoz for Aina and Yates for Schlager. Muñoz was booked in the 64th minute, and in the 65th his manager went back to the bench and changed two of his three attackers, Kalimuendo coming on for Ndoye and Wood for Delap. Gibbs-White stayed on. The equaliser never arrived.

Andrews made his first changes in the 62nd minute, sending on Hickey for Sangaré and Damsgaard for Jensen. Kayode was booked in the 68th. Anthony replaced Ouattara in the 72nd, and in the 76th he laid on the second goal for Igor Thiago. McAtee picked up Forest's last booking in the 83rd, and Wilson replaced Schade in the 84th.

The statistics belong to the side that lost. Forest had 58 per cent of the ball and 15 shots to 7, with 22 touches in the opposition box to 13 and 16 crosses to 10. They completed 365 of 476 passes, 76.7 per cent, while Brentford managed 241 of 339 at 71.1 per cent. Of those 15 Forest shots, 8 missed the target, 6 were blocked and only 1 was on target. Six came from outside the box, against 4 for Brentford, so Forest were often shooting from range or into a crowd of bodies.

Brentford's numbers were the numbers of a side defending a lead. They made 33 clearances to 22, won 55 duels to 40 and covered 116.2km to 113.8km. Forest committed 17 fouls to Brentford's 6, and Milenković, Muñoz and McAtee were all booked. They came from the side with the larger share of the ball.

Expected goals of 0.85 to 0.46 describe a match with very few good chances at either end. Forest conceded the first goal to their own defender, and with 1 shot on target from 15 they never drew level. Brentford took their lead from an own goal, protected it with clearances and blocks, and then needed only one accurate shot from a substitute's pass to finish the job.

Nottingham Forest had won two of the three meetings listed here and Brentford one, with no draws. Forest won 2-0 at Brentford in January 2026 and 3-1 at home in August 2025. Brentford's win was 2-0 at Forest in May 2025.

In the table as it stood at 17:45 on the day, with this match included, Brentford were sixth on 14 points from 9 games, with 16 goals scored and 9 conceded. Nottingham Forest were 19th on 6 points from 9 games, and their 6 goals were the fewest of any side in the division.