Rare goals from Igor Jesus and Taiwo Awoniyi eased Nottingham Forest’s relegation fears in a surprise 2-0 win at Brentford.
Jesus upstaged his fellow Brazilian striker Igor Thiago with just his second Premier League goal of the season, before substitute Awoniyi broke his duck for the campaign.
They were vital goals for Forest as they restored their five-point cushion over 18th-placed West Ham.
They also inflicted only Brentford’s second home defeat of the season, denting their unlikely bid for a place in Europe.
Bees forward Thiago has been one of the revelations of the season, his 16 Premier League goals putting him behind only Erling Haaland in the scoring charts.
Jesus, by contrast, came into the match having scored just once from 40 shots this term, giving him the worst conversion rate in the division.
It was Thiago who had the first opportunity to add to his tally after just 90 seconds, but he could only prod Kevin Schade’s inviting cross wide at full stretch.
At the other end Morgan Gibbs-White gave Schade the slip before cutting the ball back to Jesus, whose first-time effort was deflected wide.
But Jesus made his mark in the 12th minute after Ola Aina raided down the right, beating Rico Henry and lifting a cross towards the near post.
Jesus expertly controlled the ball on his chest as he held off Bees defender Nathan Collins, before spinning and lashing a superb volley past Caoimhin Kelleher.
Brentford were dealt a double injury blow before half-time when, during the same passage of play, both defender Kristoffer Ajer and midfielder Mikkel Damsgaard sustained knocks and had to go off, with Sepp Van Den Berg and Dango Ouattara pressed into action.
Ouattara almost made an instant impact after he was played through on goal by Mathias Jensen, but Matz Sels came out quickly to make the save.
Then, in seven minutes of first-half stoppage time, Van Den Berg’s header from Michael Kayode’s long throw flew inches wide.
Brentford poured forward in the second half but without Damsgaard, their most creative player, they too often ran out of ideas in the final third.
Their best chance dropped, predictably, to Thiago, who controlled Vitaly Janelt’s late free-kick at the far post only to drill his shot wide.
Forest made the game safe 11 minutes from the end when Awoniyi chased Gibbs-White’s ball up the line and outmuscled Van Den Berg.
The 28-year-old raced towards goal, stepped inside Kayode’s last-ditch sliding tackle and slipped the ball past Kelleher – his first goal since undergoing surgery on a serious abdominal injury after colliding with a goalpost in May – to wrap up a priceless win for the visitors.
PA
