Thomas Frank delivers very different verdict on Nottingham Forest victory at Brentford

A defiant Thomas Frank insisted Brentford “were on top” against Nottingham Forest but ultimately surrendered their unbeaten home record by failing to take the “chance, after chance, after chance” they created at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Ola Aina and Anthony Elanga scored goals in either half to send Forest to a 2-0 win, their third victory in a row in the league as they continued their remarkable transformation from relegation candidates last season to European contenders this term.

Defeat also ended Brentford’s wonderful run of seven wins from eight at home as Forest became the first team to leave west London with a clean sheet.

But while Frank admitted the visitors had defended well, he was far from ready to acknowledge the better team had won the game.

He told the Brentford club website: "We played a game where, in big spells, we dominated and were on top. We lacked the cutting edge to take chance, after chance, after chance - but I thought it was enough to score at least one goal.

"Nottingham Forest defended well in big spells - they also played 5-4-1, which is the first time they've done that this season, even after going to Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal, where they played a four-man defence. That's a big credit to what we've done.

"Of course, we need to learn from that and work out how to solve it better in the future. I still think we did enough to, on another day, play the same game and get a different outcome.”

This was a seventh league win in 10 for Forest and added to their victories at Old Trafford and Anfield, whilst they also took a point at Stamford Bridge. Next up is a home game against Tottenham on Boxing Day (3pm).

Frank added: “It’s a result business, and it’s definitely more fun to win. Our performance was good, and I think we were on top against the team that are third in the table. We lacked a cutting edge offensively, but created dangerous situations.

“What we gave away in this game was very little, and in that sense we were very good, but Nottingham defended very well.”

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