Nottingham Forest beaten by ten-man Hull City

Nottingham Forest suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time this season with a 2-1 defeat to ten-man Hull City at the City Ground.

Josh Magennis opened the scoring with a tidy finish after poor defending from the hosts.

The Tigers entered the break ahead and shortly after the interval they doubled their lead through Jarrod Bowen’s well-placed driven shot.

Sabri Lamouchi’s side reduced the deficit through Matty Cash’s intricate run and finish before having an incredibly strong appeal for a penalty turned down when Sammy Ameobi went down under obvious pressure.

Magennis was sent for an early shower after his late tackle on Ben Watson, but the hosts were unable to make the numerical advantage count as they fell to a second successive defeat and slipped out of the Championship play-off spots.

Much to the surprise of the home crowd, who had been used to Forest starting games with a blistering pace under Lamouchi, it was mostly the visitors who appeared quickest out of the blocks.

Jon Toral’s arching run from the half-way line appeared to carve open an early chance for the Tigers.

He slid the ball out to top-scorer Jarrod Bowen, but the forward was unable to keep his effort on-target and curled a low shot round the post.

Joao Carvalho then came close for the hosts after twisting into space inside the penalty area; however, his powerful strike was well-blocked with the rebound shanked over the crossbar by Ben Watson.

It was the visitors who continued to threaten when going forwards and they tested the home side’s resilience again when Kamil Grosicki delivered a cross into the box – Brice Samba strode off his goal-line to claim the cross ahead of the onlooking Josh Magennis.

Eventually, though, Forest settled into the game and began to produce more testing opportunities.

Lewis Grabban had a shot deflected narrowly wide on 27 minutes before Jack Robinson headed just past the post after a moment of brilliance from Sammy Ameobi.

But Hull City should have taken the lead when Bowen was given space after Callum Elder and Grosicki linked up on the left flank.

The Tigers’ top-scorer was found with acres of space inside the penalty area but hurried his shot straight into Samba’s grasp and the loose rebound was comfortably smashed away.

Forest will, however, be rueing their missed chances as they entered the break behind to Hull City.

Grabban missed the opportunity to claim his sixth goal of the season as he wastefully headed over from a matter of four yards and almost immediately afterwards Forest fell behind.

Jon Toral had his initial effort saved but the rebound fell fortunately at the feet of Magennis who squeezed a weak effort underneath Samba.

The home side felt they should have been awarded a penalty when Grabban went down under pressure but referee Oliver Langford waved away the appeals with strong conviction and sent the two sides in for half-time.

Forest suffered the worst start to the second half possible as the visitors darted forward with a counter-attack. Toral slid the ball out-wide to Bowen who shot low into the far corner to double advantage for the visitors.

But four minutes later the hosts reduced the arrears.

Cash drove forward with blistering pace and sublime agility to beat multiple Hull City defenders and when faced with the opportunity to shoot, he slid a tidy finish beyond George Long.

The hosts were, rightly so, furious when referee Langford waved away claims against what seemed a stonewall penalty when Ameobi went down in the penalty area.

But Mr Langford was forced into making a decision on 67 minutes when goalscorer Magennis lunged into Watson with an awfully late challenge that ended with him making the walk of shame to the changing rooms for an early shower.

Despite the introduction of substitutes Rafa Mir, Albert Adomah and Ryan Yates, the hosts were still unable to break through Hull’s defensive line.

Forest came close with an extremely late leveller in stoppage time when Mir volleyed an effort towards goal, but it was deflected over the crossbar as Hull City held on to claim all three points.

The result leaves Forest outside the Sky Bet Championship play-off positions and two points adrift of the automatic points.

It is by no means panic stations but losing 2-1 to a side who had previously won only once away in the league this season was a huge missed opportunity to creep into the automatic promotion spots.

Nottingham Forest: Brice Samba, Joe Worrall, Lewis Grabban, Ben Watson (C), Joao Carvalho (Ryan Yates 61), Matty Cash, Jack Robinson (Rafa Mir 80), Sammy Ameobi (Albert Adomah 74), Joe Lolley, Tiago Silva, Chema Rodriguez.

Unsused subs: Ayo Muric, Yuri Ribeiro, Tobias Figueiredo, Brennan Johnson.

Hull City: George Long, Eric Lichaj (C), Jordy de Wijs (Ryan Tafazolli 64), Reece Burke, Jon Toral (Norbert Balogh 74), Kamil Grosicki (George Honeyman 74), Jarrod Bowen, Callum Elder, Josh Magennis, Jackson Irvine, Leo Da Silva Lopes.

Unused subs: Matt Ingram, Kevin Stewart, Tom Eaves, Josh Bowler.

Attendance: 27,624 (690 away)