BY OUR MAN AT THE CITY GROUND
NOTTINGHAM, England — Sean Dyche suffered his first home defeat as Nottingham Forest boss yesterday, as a clinical Brighton side edged a scrappy affair 2-0 at the City Ground, snapping the Tricky Trees’ recent five-match unbeaten streak.
Goals from full-back Maxim De Cuyper and substitute Stefanos Tzimas were enough to secure the win for the Seagulls, who leapfrog into an impressive fifth place in the Premier League table.
The scoreline will be a bitter pill for Dyche’s men, who huffed and puffed their way through the second half, but the early dominance and late clinicality of the visitors proved the difference.
The defeat leaves Forest just a single point above the dreaded relegation zone as the festive fixture pile-up looms.
Brighton started like a house on fire, peppering the Forest goal in the opening 20 minutes, though Matz Sels remained relatively untroubled. Forest eventually found their feet, but it was Brighton who delivered the first killer blow just before the break.
In first-half stoppage time, a recycled free-kick found De Cuyper unmarked in the box, and the Belgian coolly swept the ball home from close range to give the visitors a crucial 0-1 lead.
Dyche’s half-time substitutions injected some much-needed energy, and Forest piled on the pressure. Morgan Gibbs-White saw a goal-bound shot blocked, and Igor Jesus was denied by a brilliant save from Brighton stopper Bart Verbruggen.
However, all hope was extinguished in the 88th minute following a moment Forest defender Morato will want to forget. The centre-back’s attempted back-pass was woefully under-hit, allowing 19-year-old substitute Tzimas to pounce, poking the ball into the empty net for his maiden Premier League goal.
Forest’s players, many of whom featured in their Europa League win just days earlier, looked visibly drained at times. Dyche lamented the performance, pointing to a ‘soft goal’ conceded just before the interval.
”A really poor first 20 minutes,” Dyche admitted after the match. “We looked like we were waiting for everybody else to do something. Then we gave away a really soft goal. It’s just the basics.”
The loss will set off alarm bells on the Trent, especially with key man Gibbs-White limping off in the second half. With a congested Christmas schedule ahead, Dyche will need to quickly find a way to re-energise his squad or face being dragged into a full-blown relegation dogfight.
The ‘Super Seagulls,’ on the other hand, continue their rise up the table, securing a vital three points that strengthens their European charge.
