It was a frustrating and waning 90 minutes of football and Steve Cooper is unlikely to care. Nottingham Forest need points and earned one here with a robust defensive performance that rendered the fact that they barely managed an attack of note irrelevant. They are off the deep end at the moment after riding their luck during spells in the first half and expertly managing most of the second. For Brighton, the concerns are obvious: their old impotence has returned and, having failed to concede a goal in their last three games, Roberto De Zerbi is still waiting for his first victory.
Cooper emerged from the tunnel three minutes before his players, waving to the boisterous away support before settling down. Whatever the reason for being so early, it couldn’t have been to sit comfortably. Forest are rarely able to do that and were on the back foot in the opening exchanges, conceding two quick corners and struggling to make anything stick from their pockets of possession.
Yet it was 12 minutes before they were seriously stretched, Leandro Trossard checking inside before forcing Dean Henderson to put a well-struck curler over his bar. When Solly March sped down the right soon after but failed to look up and feed an onrushing Pascal Gross, the dubious decisions in the final third that dogged Brighton’s defeats by Spurs and Brentford were significant .
Adam Lallana, starting for De Zerbi for the first time, cleverly found a pocket of space in the box but it was quickly closed down. Their head coach, an agitated presence on the sideline, turned in frustration and reached for a bottle of water. The home defenders weren’t always calming him down, twice holding onto the ball long enough for the red-hot Brennan Johnson to briefly threaten a penalty.
An increasingly torrid first half was livened up when, just before the half-hour mark, Forest made a hash of clearing a free-kick down the left and Joël Veltman could only smash the loose ball home. It led to a marked increase in tempo and eventually Brighton invented a move of speed and precision. Moisés Caicedo’s shot was blocked after a good exchange of passes through the center and turned to Trossard, whose half volley was sumptuously struck but hit the top of the crossbar.
Now the possibilities began to increase. March was next to try, forcing a smart save from Henderson at the near post. Trossard then got in behind Serge Aurier and crossed for Gross, well placed in the centre, to fire straight at the keeper when a finish either way would have paid off.
Pascal Gross takes a shot at the Nottingham Forest goal. Photograph: John Sibley/Action Images/Reuters
Forest were completely lackluster, but when Johnson headed home Robert Sanchez’s clearance, their fans cheered as if they had scored a goal. They were determined to enjoy their night, shouting cheers at their players’ weakest moments of intent throughout the half. It was exceptionally fine leg but, after Adam Webster flashed a clip from Gross, they were able to celebrate parity at the break.
Three minutes into the restart, Henderson headed over Danny Welbeck’s volley from a corner. Brighton had yet to work him hard enough and the story continued to look familiar. Welbeck proved the point again when he rose to meet Veltman’s cross but headed wide.
Forest hadn’t done too many aberrations at the back, but when Steve Cook made a clearance, Trossard had a chance to free Welbeck. The striker was unable to control and the home support, audibly restless, groaned in unison.
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They could have pinched themselves when Forest finally got a try, Johnson beating Webster before knocking his effort over for a service. Ryan Yates curled a cross beyond everyone at three-quarter time and it was something of a reminder that Brighton’s profligacy could still be harshly punished.
The hosts, increasingly frustrated by Forest’s efforts to run down the clock, were running out of ideas but forced Henderson into his best save with nine minutes remaining. It came from an effort from Gross, lifted by Welbeck and substitute Tariq Lamptey, which bounced off the floor. Henderson made an acrobatic save to his right but, once again, the strike was not clean enough.
Five minutes of added time was not enough to give another chance; Forest looked comfortable now and the traveling faithful could cheer their draw.