Fabian Hurzeler: "We have to apologise"
“It is not easy to point a finger at one thing,” said Brighton’s manager. “To say the tactical thing was wrong, to say that a player was not in his best shape.
“To say they were not good in possession or out of possession. In the end it is a thing of togetherness. We were all not on our highest level today.
“We all need to be honest with each other, look in the mirror and say that is not how we want to play football, that is not how we want to present us. We take responsibility - all of us - for this result.
“It is not easy but we have to apologise for this result, to our supporters. They spend a lot of time and money supporting us and they are very disappointed about the result and therefore we just can apologise.”
Chris Wood: "That was definitely us"
“What a difference a week can make,” says the Forest striker in an interview with TNT Sports. “We were down in the dumps after last week. It wasn’t us, it wasn’t like us, but today that was definitely us.
“It is all credit to the team. This lad [Elanga] puts it on a plate for me so it makes my job easier every time. Then Morgs [Gibbs-White] handed me the penalty for the hat-trick. It’s fantastic. The boys have done superbly showing character to come back from last week. That is what we’re about.”
Nottingham Forest 7-0 Brighton
Premier League match report: After suffering a five-goal defeat at Bournemouth last weekend, Nottingham Forest bounced back with a thrashing of their own, downing a dismal Brighton 7-0 as Chris Wood fired a hat-trick against his former club.
Morgan Gibbs-White" "We were so clinical"
“I think it’s exactly what we all wanted and it’s what we needed,” says Forest’s captain in an interview with TNT Sports. “Last week was nowhere near our standards and we’ve been working on what we needed to do to put it right in training. The boys were incredible today and just completely nullified everything Brighton did. We caught them on a couple of counters and we were so clinical in the final third.”
Angelos Marinakis: The Forest owner warmly greets and every one of his players as they make their way back into the dressing-room. It’s been a splendid day for his side.
An email: “Please give a running total of the number of emails pointing out that there was no Premier League in 1987,” writes Tom Chivers, in response to my update on 70 minutes. Just the two so far, Tom, not counting your own.
Full time: Nottingham Forest 7-0 Brighton
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeeeeeeep! Simon Hooper finally puts Brighton’s players and fans out of their collective misery by blowing the final whistle.
Fabian Hurzeler and his side have been humiliated by a rampant Forest side who could not have delivered a more emphatic response to the defeat they suffered in Bournemouth last weekend.
Forest move level on points with Arsenal in second place, the seven goals they scored without reply today not enough to take them above the Gunners on goal difference. They were outstanding today.
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90+8 min: My prediction for this game was a draw in which both teams would score. In my defence, I will argue that Brighton did hit the cross-bar. It’s all over.
90+6 min: Georginio Rutter has a shot from distance easily saved by Matz Sels, prompting the Brighton fans behind the Forest goalkeeper’s goal to cheer and applaud ironically. Fair play to them for hanging in there until the bitter end.
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90+5 min: Jota Silva wellies a shot from a narrow angle across the face of goal and wide of the far post.
90+5 min: Forest corner. Anthony Elanga’s inswinger is headed clear.
90+3 min: If you’re a Brighton fan who hasn’t already stopped checking this report for updates, we still have five minutes of added time to play.
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GOAL! Nottingham Forest 7-0 Brighton (Silva 90+1)
Have that, Brighton! Straight from the kick-off, the ball is played back to Verbruggen, who inexplicably passes it straight to Jota Silva. The Forest substitute needs no second invitation to advance and smash the ball past the Brighton goalkeeper.
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GOAL! Nottingham Forest 6-0 Brighton (Williams 89)
Forest score their sixth! Awoniyi cuts inside Van Hecke from the right and smashes the ball goalwards, only to be denied by Verbruggen. Brighton are unable to clear the ball and Neco Williams crowsns a fine performance for his side by smashing the ball into the roof of the net.
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88 min: O’Riley curls his free-kick over the wall and Matz Sels tips the ball over the bar. It was an excellent free-kick and a fine save.
86 min: Van Hecke sends another speculative ball foreward from deep but it hits the shoulder of Minteh as it drops out of the sky. Forest fail to clear properly, Sangare fouls Rutter and Brighton have a free-kick a couple of yards outside the Forest penalty asrea, a little right of centre.
85 min: Van Hecke plays the ball forward down the middle, only for Aina to cut inside from the right and volley a clearance back upfield.
84 min: Brighton win a free-kick in a reasonably decent position, only for Matt O’Riley to overhit his delivery into the penalty area and send the ball floating wide. Shaking his head disconsolately, he waves apologetically at his teammates.
82 min: Nottingham Forest double-substitution: Taiwo Awoniyi and Ibrahim Sangare on for Wood and Anderson.
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78 min: For the first time since his arrival in England, Fabian Hurzeler showed signs of petulance in one of his post-match interviews following his side’s defeat at the hands of Everton last weekend. It will be interesting to see what his demeanour and mood are like after this battering.
77 min: His arm unbroken, Elanga is good to go again. Play resumes.
75 min: An Adingra cross from the left is too high for Minteh and Ferguson. Anthony Elanga goes to ground screaming in pain and clutching his forearm after being trod on by Joel Veltman. Here’s hoping it’s not too serious.
74 min: Following the embarrassment they suffered at the hands of Bournemouth last weekend, Forest have bounced back in spectacularly ruthless style. They could pile a lot more hurt on Brighton before this game ends.
72 min: Murillo is forced off with a hip injury and is replaced by Willy Boly. In other Forest substitution news, Morgan Gibbs-White is replaced by Jota Silva. Brighton substitution: Evan Ferguson on for Welbeck.
70 min: The last Nottingham Forest player to score a Premier League hat-trick in the Premier League? Nigel Clough in 1987.
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 5-0 Brighton (Wood 69)
It’s a hiding! Chris Wood scores from the spot to complete his hat-trick and win his second match ball as a Forest player.
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Penalty for Forest!!!
67 min: Forest attack and Wood slides the ball right and wide to Gibbs-White, whose shot is blocked. Corner for Forest. They win a penalty when Gibbs-White is wrestled to the floor by Lamptey at the near post when the ball was coming into the box.
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66 min: Nottingham Forest substitution: Nicolas Dominguez on for Danilo, who gets a warm ovation as he makes his way back to the bench.
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 4-0 Brighton (Wood 64)
Forest score again! Chris Wood sidefoots home from two yards out after Anthony Elanga had outsprinted Dunk down the inside right to square a low ball across the face of the Brighton goal.
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63 min: “You’ll never beat Murillo!” chant a section of Forest fans, who clearly didn’t travel to see their team play in Bournemouth last weekend. It was a rare shocker from the Brazilian and his defensive partner Milenkovic.
62 min: Brighton continue to dominate possession but are struggling to create anything in the way of goalscoring opportunities.
60 min: Play resumes after Welbeck gets treated for his head injury. Brighton advance but Danilo intercepts and clears a ball lofted towards the edge of the Forest penalty area by Jean Paul van Hecke.
57 min: Danny Welbeck tries to control a pass from Aina and is bustled to the ground by Milenkovic, who appeared to accidentally head the Brighton striker in the back of his head. Welbeck goes to ground and Brighton appeal for a penalty but none is forthcoming. On the touchline, Fabian Hurzeler’s protestations earn him a yellow card while Welbeck receives treatment.
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55 min: An Aina cross from the byline is plucked from the air by Bart Verbruggen, who sends the ball forward.
54 min: Brighton’s midfield is looking much stronger in this second half and the team in yellow have their hosts on the back foot. A Yankuba Minteh cross to the far post is headed clear by Ola Aina.
52 min: Brighton win a corner that was needlessly given away by Ola Aina, who stuck out a foot to put behind a Matt O’Riley delivery into the box that was going wide anyway. Nothing comes of the set-piece.
51 min: Brighton attack down the left and swing a cross into a densely populated Forest penalty area. Neco Williams heads clear.
50 min: Their midfield bolstered by the presence of O’Riley and Gomez, Brighton surge forward in an attack featuring both players. Forest repel them with a minimum of fuss.
49 min: Adingra cuts in from the left and tries his luck, only to fire his shot over the bar from distance.
48 min: Ola Aina gets the better of Adingra, cantering down the right touchline past the substitute with ease before winning a throw-in for his team. Fabian Hurzeler will not be pleased to see that.
Second half: Nottingham Forest 3-0 Brighton
46 min: Play resumes with three changes in the Brighton line-up. Matt O’Riley, Simon Adingra and Diego Gomez are on for Hinshelwood, Joao Pedro and Mitoma.
Nottingham Forest 3-0 Brighton
Half-time: An absolutely terrific game reaches the break with Nottingham Forest leading courtesy of a Lewis Dunk own goal followed up by strikes from Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood.
Brighton went close, the pick of their chances coming when Danny Welbeck being denied by one-tenth of the width of the goalline after Matz Sels turned his shot on to the crossbar. The game is almost certainly beyond Fabian Hurzeler’s side but if the German can sort his midfield out and Brighton score next, who knows?
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45+4 min: I’m not sure where all this added time is coming from but referee Simon Hooper finally brings the half to a close.
45+3 min: Brighton corner. The ball is recycled and Lamptey’s cross is cleared by Morato.
45+1 min: An overhit pass from Gibbs-White towards Neco Williams rolls wide for a Brighton goalkick. The duo got their wires crossed and the latter wasn’t expecting the pass from the former.
43 min: Brighton enjoy a rare period of sustained possession that ends when the ball rolls out of play for a goal-kick. The goalline graphic of his shot from a few moments ago show the ball was mere millimetres from crossing the line when it bounced down from the crossbar. It could not have been tighter.
41 min: Forest have scored three, missed a couple and Brighton have had their chances too. This is a tremendously entertaining game and the time is flying by. I’ll be astonished if we don’t have several more goals before the 90 minutes are up.
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39 min: Oof! Danny Welbeck spanks a shot from distance, which Sels gets a fingertip too in the Forest goal. He tips the ball on to the cross-bar and it bounces down on to the line and out. Welbeck appeals to Simon Hooper more in hope than expectation. The ball didn’t cross the line.
37 min: Elanga is played in behind but is unable to get any power behind his shot under pressure and Verbrugggen saves comfortably. Brighton are getting battered here, with Jack Hinshelwood struggling in his role as the lone shield in front of their back four.
36 min: That’s Wood’s 14th goal of the season and came after he’d had a decent shot blocked by Yankuba Minteh just before Forest scored their second. With so much going on, I didn’t get a chance to mention it before now.
Chris Wood's goal stands!
35 min: In the Stockley Park bunker, Paul Tierney takes his sweet time before giving Simon Hooper the all-clear to allow the goal. Lewis Dunk was playing the Forest striker onside as the cross came in.
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 3-0 Brighton (Wood 32)
Forest score a third! Anthony Elanga attacks down the right and curls a cross to the far post, where Chris Wood leaps to nod home. There’s a VAR check for offside.
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31 min: Already in danger of being overwhelmed, Brighton find themselves temporarily down to 10 men as Mitoma adjourns to the sideline to change a contact lens. And while he’s off the pitch, Forest score again!
30 min: Brighton’s defence is left exposed again as Chris Wood has a shot from distance tipped over the bar by Verbruggen. From the corner, Brighton surge forward but Forest get back in numbers to defend their goal. Tariq Lamptey shoots high over the bar from distance.
28 min: Forest are threatening to run amok. Neco Williams skips across the edge of the Brighton penalty area with the ball at his feet and Jack Hinshelwood in forlorn pursuit. The Forest defender smacks a low drive off the foot of the post.
27 min: Brighton try to pull a goal back but Yankuba Minteh has a shot from a tight angle well saved by the legs of Verbruggen.
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 2-0 Brighton (Gibbs-White 25)
Forest double their lead! Their captain makes an untracked run to the near post from deep at a corner and flicks the inswinger past Verbruggen with his head. It’s a fine finish but Danny Welbeck gave him the freedom of the penalty area.
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23 min: Matz Sels stands with the ball at his feet on the edge of his six-yard box trying to lure Danny Welbeck forward so he can take him out of the game with a pass upfield. The Brighton striker isn’t tempted, so Sels boots the ball forward instead.
20 min: Referee Simon Hooper reaches for his pocket again and produces a yellow card for Jack Hinshelwood, who had taken a wild swing at Morgan Gibbs-White in a bid to dispossess him. The Brighton midfielder is extremely lucky he didn’t catch the Forest captain’s knee with more force or he might have seen red.
19 min: Anthony Elanga drives forward and cuts in from the left before sending a low shot just wide of the far post through a thicket of legs.
17 min: It’s been a feisty affair so far, which bodes well for the rest of the game. More, please.
16 min: The ball breaks to Brighton’s Jack Hinshelwood outside the Forest penalty area but his low, goal-bound drive is blocked by Morato.
14 min: Without wanting to riff, be-bop and scat all over Lewis Dunk’s pain, I make that seven career Premier League own goals the Brighton captain has scored.
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 1-0 Brighton (Dunk 13og)
Forest lead! Lewis Dunk sticks out a leg to divert a Morgan Gibbs-White cross from the right, aimed towards Chris Wood, at the far post into his own net. He accidentally finds the far corner, giving Bart Verbruggen no chance.
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12 min: Now Danny Welbeck gets booked for a late and fairly unnecessary challenge on Elliot Anderson out by the touchline.
11 min: Forest throw-in, halfway inside their own half. Ola Aina takes it and his side promptly lose possession.
8 min: Forest struggle to play out from the back under an extremely heavy press from Brighton. Joao Pedro is dropping extremely deep for the visitors, making life difficult for Morgan Gibbs-White, who is tasked with keeping tabs on the Brazilian when Brighton have the ball.
7 min: Murillo gets an early yellow card for grabbing Minteh by the left arm and dragging the Brighton winger to the ground.
6 min: Yankuba Minteh unceremoniously sits Williams on his backside with a chop inside from the right wing but is unable to get a cross into the Forest box before being forced backwards.
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5 min: Williams puts the ball out of play for a throw-in deep in Brighton territory as Joel Veltman tries to play it upfield.
3 min: Joao Pedro plays a give-and-go with Welbeck, advancing through the centre to collect the return pass. Nikola Milenkovic gets enough of his boot on Pedro’s shot to steer it off target.
2 min: Neco Williams and Ola Aina are playing as wing-backs for Forest, the former wearing a protective face mask after breaking his nose last weekend. Murillo is on the left side of the three centre-backs.
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Nottingham Forest v Brighton is go ...
1 min: Forest get the ball rolling and it’s played back to their goalkeeper Matz Sels, who launches it upfield. Game on!
Not long now: Soundtracked by Guns N’Roses’ Welcome To The Jungle, Simon Hooper and his fellow officials lead both sets of players out on to the City Ground sward, with Morgan Gibbs-White and Lewis Dunk wearing the captains’ armbands.
Kick-off in the first of the weekend’s Premier League encounters is just a few handshakes, a coin-toss and a shrill blast on Hooper’s whistle away.
Today’s match officials
Referee: Simon Hooper.
Assistants: Adrian Holmes and Simon Long.
Fourth official: Tony Harrington.
VAR: Paul Tierney.
Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis.
Nuno Espirito Santo: The Forest manager has confirmed he will be starting with a back three. “Yes, that’s right,” he tells TNT Sports. “To be more compact and more solid. It then allows more freedom to our front players.”
Fabian Hurzeler: “There is always one team that surprises everyone - this season it is Nottingham Forest,” said the Brighton manager in his pre-match press conference. “You see their individual quality, they have a lot, players who have played a long time in the Premier League. For some experts it’s not surprising, but they’re getting the results and are always finding a way to win games.”
Those teams: Following last weekend’s uncharacteristic defensive horror show, Nuno Espirito Santo looks to be switching to a back five, bringing in Morato to play alongside Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic in the heart of Forest’s defence. Danilo is back in the side for his first start in the side since recovering from a broken ankle he suffered on the opening day of the season. Ryan Yates and Jota Silva make way.
Kaoru Mitoma starts for Brighton, who rejected two bids for their Japanese winger from Saudi side Al-Nassr during the week. Jack Hinshelwood, Yankuba Minteh and Georginio Rutter come into the starting 11, with Carlos Baleba, Brajan Gruda and Yasin Ayari dropping out. Expected to leave Brighton on loan or a permanent move before Monday, Irish striker Evan Ferguson starts on the bench after recovering from his latest ankle injury.
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Nottingham Forest v Brighton line-ups
Nottingham Forest: Sels, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Morato, Anderson, Danilo, Gibbs-White, Elanga, Wood
Subs: Miguel, Sangare, Awoniyi, Dominguez, Moreno, Jota Silva, Yates, Sosa, Boly
Brighton: Verbruggen, Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Lamptey, Hinshelwood, Minteh, Mitoma, Joao Pedro, Rutter, Welbeck
Subs: Rushworth, Webster, Gruda, Adingra, Gomez, Ferguson, O’Riley, McConville, Knight
Early team news
At a point in the season when some top flight teams are decimated by injury, Nottingham Forest are in extremely rude health. Their in-form winger winger Callum Hudson-Odoi remains sidelined with the groin injury that kept him out of his side’s defeat at the hands of Bournemouth last weekend, but Ibrahim Sangare, has been passed fit to join the matchday squad after five months out with a hamstring tear.
Brighton defenders Igor Julio and Ferdi Kadioglu are both out, along with James Milner, Mats Wieffer and Solly March. Reserve goalkeeper Jason Steele is also unavailable as he is carrying a shoulder injury. Evan Ferguson is expected to take his place on the bench despite Brighton making him available for a move elsewhere before the end of the transfer window.
Nuno Espirito Santo: “We have to react, it’s obvious after a bad performance,” said Forest’s manager of the shellacking his side endured at the hands of Bournemouth.
“There is no other way, we have to react, perform better, we have to be a better team. It’s just back to the basics, back to the things we do well, recognising our strengths and our weaknesses and try to perform better because it was a bad performance.
“We have to perform much better, we have to be solid, we have to play better football. We were not accurate, we missed a lot of passes. So many things to improve. Big challenge ahead of us.”
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Premier League: Nottingham Forest v Brighton
Forest welcome Brighton to the City Ground, hoping to prove their slaughter at the hands of Bournemouth last weekend was nothing more than an anomaly in an otherwise excellent season for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side. Brighton are also hoping to bounce back from defeat against Everton that came on the back of three consecutive wins and an unbeaten run of seven games in all competitions.
With both sides aiming for European qualification, the stakes are high by the River Trent and if this game is as entertaining as the bad-tempered as September’s corresponding fixture in which both managers and Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White saw red, we should be in for a treat. Kick-off is at 12.30pm (GMT) but we’ll have team news and build-up in the meantime.
