Soccer
Nuno Espirito Santo said his Nottingham Forest team “were on fire” in their impressive 3-1 triumph over Brentford in their first match of the Premier League season.
Nuno watched on as a clinical first-half display that saw two goals from Chris Wood and a debut strike from Dan Ndoye did the damage at the City Ground on Sunday.
Brentford netted a late consolation through Igor Thiago’s penalty in the 78th minute, but Forest were able to hold on to make an almost perfect start to 2025-26.
The result saw Forest end their seven-game winless run on matchday one of a league season (D2 L5), earning their first opening match win since 2017-18 in the Championship.
And Nuno’s team were worthy of their win, ending the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.86 from their 11 shots to Brentford’s 1.5 from their 10 attempts.
“It was a good start to the game and a good start to the season. I’m really pleased, I think we played really well,” Nuno told Forest TV.
“The boys were on fire in the way they started the game. We got the first goal to settle everything down then we had the energy from the fans and everything started to flow. It’s almost impossible to ask for a better start.
“Just before our second goal, Brentford had a good chance, but for the rest of the half we were in control of the game, with and without the ball, pressing, controlling the movements of Brentford and their players.”
It’s good to be back. pic.twitter.com/541Paj2rRP
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) August 17, 2025
Nuno was also quick to applaud Ndoye for his display, with the striker, who joined from Bologna this summer, heading Morgan Gibbs-White’s cross home in the 42nd minute.
Indeed, Ndoye became the first ever Swiss player to score on his Premier League debut. He was the ninth player to score on his Forest debut in the competition, and only the second since their promotion in 2022 (also Callum Hudson-Odoi v Burnley in September 2023).
“It’s very important for a player who joins the club to score on his first appearance. Talented player and we expect a lot of things from him,” Nuno added.
“The understanding in that part of the pitch and controlling the middle of the park is really important. The three of them played really well.
For Brentford, meanwhile, Keith Andrews’ first appearance in a Premier League dugout ended in disappointing fashion.
Andrews led the Bees to their first ever opening day defeat in the Premier League (P5 W2 D2 L1), and their worst result in a season curtain-raiser since 2004-05 (3-1 away to Chesterfield).
Discussing his side’s performance, Andrews said: “It was a really disappointing first-half and a really disappointing result.
“I thought the game just got away from us at stages in the first-half and they were clinical as we knew they would be. I felt we were a little nice at times and I didn’t like it.”
Asked about the improved second-half display, Andrews added: “At that stage, it’s easy to say show what you’re about, show some personality, show some character, but it’s not always easy to go and actually implement it on the pitch.”
Forest and Brentford’s next Premier League outings come next weekend against Crystal Palace and Aston Villa, respectively.
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