Toney stars on return as Brentford edge Nottingham Forest in 5-goal thriller

London, Jan 21 : Ivan Toney marked his return from an eight-month ban with a goal as Brentford beat Nottingham Forest 3-2 at Gtech Community Stadium.

A first Brentford win in the Premier League since December 2 takes them up to 14th on 22 points, two more than Nottingham Forest who fall to 16th, only four points from the relegation zone.

The centre-forward, Toney, whose last appearance came at Liverpool on May 6, netted a clever free-kick to equalise for his side after Danilo put Forest ahead inside five minutes.

Brentford nearly made it two on half an hour when Keane Lewis-Potter crashed a shot against the underside of the bar that then hit Matt Turner in the Forest goal, who stopped it from going over the line before it was eventually cleared.

The hosts started the second half brightly, with Lewis-Potter the man with a couple of chances, both of which he spurned.The pressure from Brentford eventually paid off in the 58th minute when Mee, on his 50th appearance for the club, met a Mathias Jensen corner to power a header beyond Turner at the near post.

Brentfords lead did not last for long however, Chris Wood glancing an inswinging Hudson-Odoi cross into the far corner.Forest almost instantly found a third, Wood laying off a good ball to Mangala whose first-time shot was wide.

That miss proved costly as less than a minute later, Brentford retook the lead brilliantly.

Mads Roerslev whipped in a low cross that Maupay controlled well before turning his marker and powering in a low shot.

bc/