Greek Striker Stefanos Tzimas Wraps Up Points with Late Second on the Break

At a glance

Brighton open scoring just before the break with Maxim De Cuyper’s goal

Forest go closest to equaliser through Igor Jesus in second half

PLAYER RATER

Brighton climbed up to fifth place in the Premier League standings with a hard-fought victory against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

Maxim de Cuyper broke the deadlock for the Seagulls in first-half added time before 19-year-old Greek striker Stefanos Tzimas scored off the bench to secure only their second away win of the season – after a 3-1 win at Chelsea in September.

Visiting fans at the City Ground held their collective breath as Forest were forced to soak up sustained pressure from Brighton and survived a handful of scares that could have had them go behind early.

Ibrahim Sangare and Morato had to clear off the line to avert Brighton’s early threats before the returning Morgan Gibbs-White nearly scored against the run of play for Forest with an almost-perfect volley from Nicolas Dominguez’s cross.

But the visitors were rewarded for their persistence just before the interval as Belgium left-back De Cuyper arrived in the box unmarked to meet a pass from Georginio Rutter and slotted the ball past Matz Sels to make it 1-0.

Sels produced a brilliant save to keep out Diego Gomez’s close-range header in the second half before Igor Jesus was denied by an equally impressive stop at the other end by Bart Verbruggen.

Forest put on a much-improved display after the restart but failed to create enough clear-cut chances before Tzimas capitalised on a poor defensive header from Morato with two minutes left to score his first Premier League goal and put the result beyond doubt.

Brighton now have 22 points from 13 games – the same as sixth-placed Sunderland – but sit fifth on goal difference.

Forest, meanwhile, are in 16th place – one point clear of the relegation zone.

Brighton analysis: Seagulls prove a point at City Ground

Brighton’s visit to the City Ground last season ended in a 7-0 demolition at the hands of Nuno Espirito Santo’s Forest.

After the defeat, manager Fabian Hurzeler reportedly burnt his tactical plans for the match in front of his players.

Brighton looked like they had a point to prove on Sunday as they search for a spot in Europe.

The Seagulls started brightly as Sels was forced into action to keep out Yankuba Minteh before Rutter failed to hit the target after arriving to meet an early cross from De Cuyper.

Rutter then had an effort cleared off the line by Sangare after a corner as the visitors continued to pile the pressure on Forest in the opening 10 minutes.

Gomez was also denied not much later as Morato, standing in for injured centre-back Murillo, made another goal line clearance to save Forest’s blushes.

In fact, Hurzeler’s men had more than 65% of possession and registered nine shots inside the opening 20 minutes – the most attempts ever during that period of a Premier League match.

And their pressure paid off as De Cuyper, who had troubled the Forest backline with his deliveries into the box, bagged his second goal for the club since signing from Club Brugge in the summer.

The visitors had to dig in to see off Forest’s efforts in the closing stages but Tzimas, who replaced Danny Welbeck in the 65th minute, eased the pressure by opening his Premier League account with two minutes left to play.

Forest analysis: Forest’s unbeaten run snapped

Forest had all the momentum going into this encounter.

Since Dyche took charge on 21 October, following Nuno’s sacking, they had won four out of seven matches and kept four clean sheets.

However, their five-game unbeaten run under their new boss ended after they produced little in response to a brilliant Brighton display.

Gibbs-White, who had missed their 3-0 win against Swedish side Malmo in the Europa League on Thursday, had shook off a back problem to start here.

But Forest dearly missed Murillo after the Brazilian centre-back was taken off in the second half of that midweek victory with an injury.

In his absence, their backline looked disjointed as they came under tremendous pressure from Brighton’s attackers.

And when they were probing for a late equaliser, Morato, replacing his compatriot Murillo, did not get enough purchase on a header back to his goalkeeper.

That allowed Tzimas to pounce and Dyche’s second defeat at Forest – after a 2-0 loss at Bournemouth on 26 October – leaves his side looking over their shoulders, one point clear of 18th-placed Leeds United.

What’s next for these teams?

Nottingham Forest will return to action on Wednesday, 3 December (19:30 GMT) when they face Premier League’s bottom side Wolves at the Molineux.

Meanwhile, Brighton will host Aston Villa at the Amex at the same time.

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Source: BBC