Brighton Vs Nottm Forest: Welbeck strike seals frenetic win as pressure grows on Pereira
brighton vs nottm forest produced three goals inside 15 minutes as Brighton beat Nottingham Forest, with Diego Gómez opening the scoring and Danny Welbeck grabbing his 10th Premier League goal to restore the lead and lift Brighton to 11th in the table.
Brighton Vs Nottm Forest at the Amex produced three early goals
Diego Gómez put the hosts ahead inside six minutes, capitalising on two errors from Neco Williams and hammering the ball past Matz Sels from the edge of the area with an angled strike. Seven minutes later Morgan Gibbs-White levelled for Forest, hammering in a leveller from the edge of the box — an unstoppable effort that used the outside of his boot — before Brighton regained the lead just 105 seconds after the equaliser.
Welbeck’s 10th calms Hürzeler and extends scoring run
Danny Welbeck, 35, applied a clever turn and finish after Kaoru Mitoma’s cross was headed into his path by Jack Hinshelwood at the back post, bringing his tally to 10 for the season and equalling his total from last year. The win was Brighton’s second in a row, their first time registering back-to-back victories since November, and followed last week’s victory at Brentford that ended a six-game winless run in which they had scored only three goals. Brighton have now scored four in their last two matches.
Forest’s chances and late miss
Forest struggled to produce meaningful chances for long periods, and their best late opportunity fell to substitute Taiwo Awoniyi, who sent a bullet header well wide. At other moments Brighton almost extended their lead: a sloppy pass from Murillo inside his own half nearly gifted Welbeck a second, Kaoru Mitoma was denied by an excellent save on a potential third, and Elliot Anderson was booked for simulation after attempting to win a penalty.
Pereira’s fragile start and squad context
Nottingham Forest are now without a Premier League win under Vítor Pereira, who is four matches into his spell as the club’s fourth permanent manager this season. His position has been described as precarious given the record of the club’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis. The defeat was Forest’s second successive Premier League loss since Pereira replaced Sean Dyche a fortnight ago and leaves them only two points clear of the drop zone; they face a trip to Manchester City on Wednesday.
Players, milestones and the crowd reaction
James Milner made his 655th Premier League appearance after breaking the record the previous week; the 40-year-old lasted almost the whole match and produced a composed display that could strengthen hopes of a contract extension. Brighton’s head coach Fabian Hürzeler left the pitch to cheers, a marked turnaround from a couple of weeks ago when a small section of fans had been chanting "getting sacked in the morning. " Hürzeler praised the crowd, saying, "We wanted to create an energy so everyone would follow us. They helped us to get over the finish line. "
