Joao Pedro scored twice off the bench as Brighton & Hove Albion came from behind and survived Lewis Dunk's 73rd-minute sending-off to win 3-2 at Nottingham Forest to claim their first victory in seven Premier League matches.
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How the match unfolded
Forest took the lead after three minutes, with Morgan Gibbs-White’s cross headed in at the far post by Anthony Elanga for his third goal of the season.
That goal meant Brighton have failed to keep a clean sheet in 17 consecutive Premier League matches since their 3-0 victory at Arsenal in May.
The Seagulls responded well to the early setback and equalised on 26 minutes through Evan Ferguson.
Back in the starting XI after missing the 1-1 draw with Sheffield United through injury, Ferguson received a pass from Pascal Gross on the edge of the penalty area and placed a right-footed shot into the bottom corner.
Despite losing Ansu Fati and Tariq Lamptey to injuries, Brighton went in front in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time.
Gross’ deep cross from the right was met powerfully by substitute Joao Pedro, whose header beat Forest goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos at his near post.
Joao Pedro made it 3-1 on 58 minutes, converting a penalty he won after being fouled by Chris Wood.
Forest were handed a route back into the match with 20 minutes remaining after being awarded a penalty following a VAR review for a foul by Jack Hinshelwood on Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Dunk was sent off for foul and abusive language before Gibbs-White dispatched the resulting spot-kick to set up a grandstand finish.
Gibbs-White missed a glorious chance to earn Forest a point, but his free header came off his shoulder and failed to hit the target.
A first home Premier League defeat in nine matches leaves Steve Cooper's side in 14th on 13 points.
Brighton leapfrog Manchester United and move up to seventh, with 22 points.
Did you know?
Evan Ferguson scored his 11th Premier League goal of 2023, matching Wayne Rooney’s tally of 11 goals as a teenager in 2005. Only Michael Owen (25 – 1998), Robbie Fowler (22 – 1994), Nicolas Anelka (12 – 1998) and Francis Jeffers (12 – 1999) have scored more Premier League goals as a teenager in a single calendar year than Ferguson.
Brighton have both scored and conceded in 17 consecutive Premier League matches, the longest such run in Premier League history. It’s the longest run of doing so in the top flight since Manchester United also went 17 consecutive such matches in 1959-60.
Morgan Gibbs-White’s assist for Anthony Elanga’s goal meant he became only the fifth Nottingham Forest player to reach 10 Premier League assists, after Scott Gemmill (13), Bryan Roy (15), Steve Stone (16) and Ian Woan (27).
Since Pascal Gross’ Premier League debut in August 2017, only six players have provided more assists than his 38. He is Brighton’s top assister in the competition and his two assists today marked the first time he has provided more than one assist in the same Premier League game.
There were just 12 seconds between Lewis Dunk’s two yellow cards, the shortest gap for a player receiving two yellows in a Premier League game since Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli against Wolves in January 2022 (4 seconds).
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