Stefanos Tzimas scored his first Premier League goal to clinch an impressive 2-0 victory for Brighton and Hove Albion at Nottingham Forest.
Forest went into Sunday’s match at the City Ground on the back of three straight wins in all competitions, having beaten Liverpool 3-0 in their last top-flight outing.
Yet Sean Dyche’s team saw their five-match unbeaten run snapped, with youngster Tzimas grabbing a decisive second for the Seagulls to put the game to bed in the 88th minute.
Maxim De Cuyper put Brighton ahead late in the first half, with both Matz Sels and Bart Verbruggen making big saves after the break.
Yet Tzimas capitalised on Morato’s error to settle the match, sending Brighton into fifth, while Forest remain 16th, a point above the bottom three.
How the match unfolded
Brighton created two fantastic chances within the opening couple of minutes as Yankuba Minteh sneaked in behind the Forest defence but failed to round Sels, before Diego Gomez went agonisingly close to reaching De Cuyper’s whipped cross.
Georginio Rutter’s close-range strike and Gomez’s towering header were each cleared off the line by Forest pair Ibrahim Sangare and Neco Williams, respectively, though the hosts did go close when Morgan Gibbs-White flashed a volley just wide.
But Brighton got the goal they deserved in the first minute of first-half stoppage time – Rutter’s pass deflected to De Cuyper, who swept a composed effort into the bottom-right corner.
Forest started the second half brightly, but always looked vulnerable on the counter-attack, and Sels produced an extraordinary double save to deny Gomez and Ferdi Kadioglu.
Verbruggen had to be equally as alert at the other end moments later, sticking out a leg to keep out Igor Jesus’ low drive.
But Forest’s hopes were extinguished when Morato bizarrely attempted a backheel in his own box, and with Sels sprawled on the turf, Tzimas prodded into an empty net.
Forest’s lack of cutting edge proves costly
Forest came into this match brimming with confidence, but they started on the back foot, allowing their opponents to dominate proceedings in the early stages.
Gibbs-White’s volley was their only noteworthy chance of the first half, and their defence was fortunate not to have been breached long before De Cuyper waltzed into the centre of the box unchallenged and applied a neat finish.
Forest huffed and puffed after the interval, with Sangare inadvertently blocking a goal-bound effort from Gibbs-White in the 61st minute, while Igor Jesus’ eyes lit up when he was put through, only to be denied a maiden Premier League goal by Verbruggen’s eye-catching save.
But until Morato’s costly error in judgement, Forest had kept themselves in the game, and Dyche, renowned for his no-nonsense approach and organisation, will no doubt be infuriated by his defender’s lapse in concentration as he suffered his first home defeat since replacing Ange Postecoglou.
Dyche heads back to his former club Everton next weekend, but first, Forest will look to get back on track when they face lowly Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday.
Brighton avenge last season’s City Ground humbling
In February, Brighton suffered their heaviest league defeat in 67 years, when they were thrashed 7-0 in the corresponding fixture last season.
But Fabian Hurzeler’s team swiftly set about righting that wrong, setting the tone early with those chances for Minteh, Gomez and Rutter.
They just lacked some composure when it counted, but De Cuyper – a natural left-back playing higher up on that flank – showed calmness in abundance when he coolly dispatched their opener.
In the second half, the Seagulls dug deep and defended resolutely, with Verbruggen making that key save to deny Jesus, before Jan Paul van Hecke produced a brilliant block to intercept Callum Hudson-Odoi’s dangerous low cross.
Tzimas’ strike put the gloss on a fine all-round performance that was well worthy of three points, and Brighton head into a hectic December with the top four very much in their sights.
Third-place Aston Villa visit the Amex Stadium on Wednesday, before Brighton host West Ham United.
Club reports
Nottingham Forest report | Brighton report
What the managers said
Sean Dyche: "A strong one with the performance after the first 20 minutes, a really poor first 20 minutes. It felt a bit like we were waiting for everybody else to do something and they weren't waiting.
"Then gave away a really soft goal. It's just the basics, getting across and filling holes. I felt in the second half we were dominant. We got in so many good areas. A lot of good signs within the performance but you've got to score goals."
Fabian Hurzeler: "Very happy for the team, for the staff, they worked hard this week and during the game. We started really well, created chances ,defended really good, and deserve the lead.
"Second half we struggled a bit, Nottingham brought on some quality, we struggled to defend but we stuck together, attacked and defended together. We deserved to win."
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Key facts
Brighton & Hove Albion attempted nine shots in the opening 20 minutes of the match, their most ever in the opening 20 minutes of a Premier League match.
Nottingham Forest have both attempted 15+ shots and faced 15+ shots in three of Sean Dyche’s five Premier League matches in charge of the club, with no manager seeing his side’s do so more this season (level with Arne Slot).
Stefanos Tzimas scored his first Premier League goal for Brighton aged 19 years and 328 days old, becoming the seventh different teenager to net a goal in the competition for the Seagulls.
Elliot Anderson made his 50th Premier League appearance for Nottingham Forest this afternoon, becoming the 10th different midfielder to reach this milestone for the club and the first since Danilo in May.