Brentford 2-1 Nottingham Forest: Injury time win for 10-man Bees

Substitute Philipp Hofmann grabbed a 96th-minute winner for 10-man Brentford in a pulsating 2-1 victory over Nottingham Forest.

Hofmann bundled home from close range deep into injury-time to inflict the fourth away Championship defeat in a row on Forest.

Sergi Canos opened the scoring for the Bees just after the half-hour mark, but the party was quickly dampened when centre-back Harlee Dean was shown a straight red card.

Henri Lansbury made the man advantage count not long after to bring the game level but Hoffman made sure the points were staying in London with his last-minute strike, with caretaker-boss Lee Carsley saying he was stepping down after the win. 

Forest could have been out of sight by the break as Brentford struggled, but some wayward finishing and heroics from David Button kept it goalless.

Nelson Oliveira forced a full-length save from the 'keeper before he stopped Jamie Ward's effort from the edge of the box at the second attempt.

Button was at his best again just after the break, tipping Oliveira's downward header past the post as the Griffin Park crowd still waited for a first shot on goal.

They eventually got their reward in the 57th minute, when John Swift's swerving drive forced a good save from Forest stopper Dorus De Vries.

It was Canos who eventually made the breakthrough, when the Liverpool loanee lashed home from close range after Dean's header back across goal.

However, the defender's game was not to last much longer as he was dismissed after an off-the-ball clash with Forest's Jonathan Williams.

Dean grabbed the ball after a disputed foul and as Williams came to snatch it from him, he caught the winger who dropped to the ground and saw a straight red for his troubles.

Lansbury made the extra man count just three minutes later and thought he had bagged his side a point when he capitalised on a rare slip by Toumani Diagouraga to slot home from 12 yards.

The visitors pushed forward, trying to press home their advantage but Brentford still looked a threat on the break, with the pace of Canos causing the visitors problems.

In the dying minutes it was the hosts who looked more intent on going for the winner, James Tarkowski seeing a 90th-minute header bounce back off the post and they got their reward in the sixth minute of added time.

Ryan Woods' snapshot volley was palmed clear to Tarkowski, who steered an effort goalwards - sparking a frenzied goalmouth melee which Hofmann finally ended with the decisive touch.

Brentford caretaker manager Lee Carsley:

"This was my last game so it was nice to get a result. My remit was always to get us back on track and now, with the way we've been playing and a lot of the injured boys coming back to fitness, I can say I've done that.

"I will be staying on to help with the transition before returning to my old role, we have players coming back from injury and are in a strong position."

Nottingham Forest boss Dougie Freedman:

"In the first half we were in complete control and should have been two or three up. We had four or five chances but didn't take them and I'm fed up of saying that after games.

"If anything, losing a man helped Brentford. They dug in, kept on going and scrambled a winner but in reality they only had two five-minute spells and made us pay in both of them.

"After the sending-off they were more compact and showed more fighting spirit, while we just got more and more naive. The result was definitely of our own making."