N Forest 2 – 2 Brentford

Nottingham Forest salvaged a dramatic 2-2 draw against Brentford thanks to Mathias Jorgensen’s 96th-minute own goal at the City Ground.

The Bees were without Ivan Toney as he was serving a suspension, but Bryan Mbeumo (45+3) and Yoane Wissa (75) stepped up with goals in his absence to mount a comeback after Morgan Gibbs-White’s deflected opener (20).

But Forest secured an equaliser with one of the final touches of the game after Gibbs-White’s shot rebounded off Brentford defender Jorgensen and marginally over the line – despite Ben Mee’s best efforts.

Forest felt aggrieved after conceding a penalty in first-half stoppage-time, which was converted expertly by Mbuemo, following VAR intervention after Dean Henderson’s challenge on Yoane Wissa.

Steve Cooper, the Forest head coach, admitted he was “biting his tongue” over the penalty calls and said “if [the referee] gives one he has to give four” after seeing appeals from Ryan Yates, Emmanuel Dennis and Gibbs-White turned down.

Brentford had their first away league win snatched away from them at the death, but move up to 10th while Forest remain rooted to the bottom of the table, two points from safety.

How Forest rescued a point in stoppage-time

Forest set out to hurt Brentford on the counter-attack and caused the visitors major problems for most of the first half. Gibbs-White was the orchestrator for the hosts and his performance was rewarded with a shade of luck as his shot took a deflection off Mee for his opener after 20 minutes.

Brentford were handed a route back into the game when referee Andre Marriner awarded them a penalty – after being told to review his on-field decision by the VAR – for Henderson’s challenge on Wissa when the forward was through on goal.

With usual penalty-taker Toney suspended, Mbeumo assumed spot-kick duties and converted with ease, sending Henderson the wrong way to keep up Brentford’s 100 per cent record from the spot in the Premier League.

Spurred on by their equaliser in first-half stoppage-time, Brentford took the lead through Wissa’s lobbed finish after a perfectly-timed through ball from Mathias Jensen after 75 minutes.

Forest pushed hard for an equaliser, having been the better side for large parts of the game, and finally got the breakthrough in the sixth minute of stoppage-time when Gibbs-White’s shot bounced off Jorgensen and into the net.

Brentford are still searching for an away win in the Premier League this season and are now on a four-game winless run.

Cooper: Hard to bite my tongue over penalties

Nottingham Forest head coach Steve Cooper:

“We played really well in the first 35 minutes and I thought we were good for the lead. I thought if anything we should have been more [goals up].

“I didn’t like the last 10 minutes of the first half, we made some unforced errors that gave Brentford some decent positions, which were self-inflicted.

“You’re going to ask me about the penalty decisions. My feeling is, if he gives one he has to give four. We feel the one on Emmanuel Dennis in the first half is worse, we feel the one against Ryan Yates in the first half is worse than the one that was given against us and then on Morgan Gibbs-White in the second half.

“We feel hard done by, that is pretty plain to see. The system let the referee down, more than a little bit. Luck went against us in terms of the officiating.

“But I am also looking at the last 10 minutes of the first half and the goals that we conceded. The first one is unlucky, but we shouldn’t let them get into that position. The second one is poor defending.

“Great to show heart and soul at the end of the game and keep going and get something out of the game. But I have real mixed feelings about how the game went today and I am finding it hard to bite my tongue.”

Frank: Tough goal to take in stoppage time

Brentford head coach Thomas Frank:

“That’s tough to take when you are leading with six minutes of stoppage time and you don’t get the win.

“I’m very proud of the team, we were a little bit down to the bare bones. Three of our four captains – Norgaard, Pontus and Ivan – were out.

“Kristoffer Ajer and Aaron Hickey were also out, Vitaly Janelt we had to take off at half-time, Jensen hasn’t trained the whole week. So other players stepped in at a difficult away ground.

“It is very noisy here. We went 1-0 down, Liverpool did that two weeks ago and couldn’t come back. The way we approached the second half made me very proud and pleased.”

What’s next?

Nottingham Forest host Tottenham in the Carabao Cup third round this Wednesday. Kick-off is at 7.45pm. Steve Cooper’s side then welcome Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday November 12 at 3pm.

Brentford will be visited by League Two club Gillingham in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday with kick-off at 7.45pm. The Bees end their pre-World Cup Premier League rota with a trip to champions Manchester City on November 12 in lunchtime game at 12.30pm.