The points were shared in a drab affair at the AMEX as Brighton were held to a 0-0 draw by Nottingham Forest.
Roberto De Zerbi’s Seagulls dominated the ball as they so often do these days, but for all the pressure the piled onto the visitors in the opening stages, they couldn’t draw first blood.
Proceedings died down considerably after the break, despite the crowd’s best efforts to inject some urgency into the game. Forest looked helpless in the rare spells of possession they could muster up when trying to create chances, while the hosts seemed to lose the edge they had in the first half.
40 seasons on from their last top flight meeting, it was Brighton who started with intent, asserting themselves onto Forest with their usual, possession-based style and an impressive ability to force overloads through the centre, which allowed them to carve out several scoring opportunities.
Dean Henderson was called into action after just 13 minutes to tip an effort over the crossbar from Leandro Trossard. The Belgian looked lively and came even closer to breaking the deadlock after half an hour, striking the bar with a well-hit volley following a neat passage of play.
An unmarked Pascal Gross ought to have done better with a squared ball into the penalty area after 36 minutes, firing straight at Henderson, who gathered at the second attempt to deny Danny Welbeck a chance at tapping in the rebound.
Forest fans were in fine voice despite having to watch their side spend most of the opening 45 minutes inside their own half, with Brighton somehow not finding the reward for carving out plenty of well-worked chances.
De Zerbi’s side started strongly again following the restart and could’ve pulled ahead from a corner, but Welbeck’s effort was too weak to beat Henderson while travelling through several defensive bodies.
Moises Caicedo was perhaps a tad fortunate not to be sent off when he was booked for a high foot that connected with the head of Ryan Yates after 53 minutes. It was that moment of chaos that seemed to break up the play nicely for Forest and allow them to enjoy a spell of possession.
All they could manage in that spell of possession, though, were a few lacklustre ventures forward that never came close to testing Robert Sanchez in the Brighton goal.
Substitute Tariq Lamptey added a spark for Brighton in the final third as they pushed for a winner in the closing stages. His cross to Welbeck after 81 minutes allowed the experienced forward to flick onto Gross, whose volley was at a comfortable height for Henderson to parry away.
Zero shots on target from just three attempts all night makes for admittedly bleak reading for Forest fans, but a draw away from home has secured their first clean sheet of the season and lifted them off the bottom of the Premier League table until at least Thursday.
Brighton, meanwhile, failed to find the back of the net for a third game running. De Zerbi should be disappointed with his side, who had more than enough chances to put the match to bed early on, but somehow extended their winless run to four games.
Credit: 90min.com
