Nottingham Forest 3-1 Brentford: Wood and Gibbs-White shine in convincing win

Chris Wood scored twice as Nottingham Forest cruised to a 3-1 win over Brentford at the City Ground.

Playing their first Premier League game under new boss Keith Andrews, Brentford were little match for a rampant Forest on Sunday, and the question marks will linger over their prospects for this season following Thomas Frank’s departure.

Forest needed just five minutes to get the ball rolling as Wood prodded home following a corner.

Dan Ndoye, making his league debut for Forest, made it 2-0 to the hosts with a brilliant diving header from Morgan Gibbs-White’s pinpoint cross.

Wood doubled up in first-half stoppage time, as a relentless Forest put the game out of sight – the New Zealander took in Elliot Anderson’s perfect pass, rounded Caoimhin Kelleher and slotted into an empty net.

Igor Thiago’s 78th-minute penalty reduced the arrears as Forest failed to add to their lead after the break, although Gibbs-White went close, but it was too little too late for Brentford.

It’s good to be back. pic.twitter.com/541Paj2rRP

— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) August 17, 2025

Data Debrief: Wood and Gibbs-White steal the show

Since Nuno Espirito Santo took charge of Forest in December 2023, Wood has now scored 30 non-penalty Premier League goals, matching Erling Haaland for the highest total by any player in the league during this period.

In fact, in that time, only Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland and Alexander Isak (37 goals each) have netted more times in the top flight than Wood (33).

Gibbs-White, meanwhile, recorded his 27th Premier League assist for Forest, tying him with Ian Woan as the club’s top assist provider in the competition’s history. Nuno will no doubt be delighted the club rebuffed Tottenham’s interest in the playmaker.

While Thiago’s penalty means Brentford recorded 1.5 expected goals (xG) to Forest’s 1.86, that metric does not tell the story of the home side’s dominance, as the Bees fell to their first opening-day defeat in the Premier League in what was their fifth such outing.