Nottingham Forest 0 - 1 Charlton: Forest stunned by lowly Charlton

Nottingham Forest suffered a blow to their automatic promotion hopes after a 1-0 defeat to relegation battling Charlton Athletic.

With expectation high ahead of the game at the City Ground, Forest were felled courtesy of a Lyle Taylor strike.

The Reds made five changes from their win against 2nd placed Leeds on Saturday and fell behind after 24 minutes via a thumping volley from the Charlton striker.

Tyler Walker, deputising for top scorer Lewis Grabban, had Forest’s best chance to equalise but directed the ball narrowly wide from six yards after getting on the end of a dangerous cross from Gaetan Bong.

The result leaves Forest in 5th but still only 2 points adrift of the automatic promotion places, with 3rd placed Fulham playing tomorrow night.

Sabri Lamounchi rang the changes and handed full debuts to new signings Gaetan Bong & Adama Diakhaby amidst a run of 7 games in the space of 27 days.

Charlton looked to capitalise on Forest’s lack of cohesion and started the better of the two teams, forcing Forest goalkeeper Brice Samba to tip over after just 12 minutes following good work down the left hand side from Alfie Doughty.

But 12 minutes later Samba was able to do nothing to prevent Forest going behind. Just when it looked like the danger had gone, Charlton centre-back Mouhamadou-Naby Sarr intercepted a Forest pass out of defence and delivered a swinging cross from the left for the on rushing Lyle Taylor to superbly wallop home.

Joe Lolley looked to be Forest’s most dangerous outlet throughout and had a shot blocked when cutting in from the right, but with 30 minutes on the clock the Reds landed their first meaningful response via Tiago Silva, who sent the ball the wrong side of the post after a low drive from 20 yards.

Brice Samba was then again called into action, parrying wide after a decent effort from the nimble Erhun Oztumer.

Forest looked to respond, and after a few nearly moments involving Lolley, Walker, and Silva, Tyler Walker cushioned a deep cross into the path of Adama Diakhaby who blazed over from the edge of the area.

Walker then went close himself just before half time. The striker met an inviting cross from debutant Bong, but only managed to steer it past the far post from close range.

A dangerous cross in the 46th minute from right-back Carl Jenkinson gave promise to a better 2nd half from Forest, but the frustration continued after a misplaced pass in the 54th minute led to a 4-on-2 for Charlton, with the Reds being spared as goalscorer Lyle Taylor chose the wrong pass and Charlton fired wide from the left.

Winger Joe Lolley continued to be the bright spark in the game with good work on both wings, and in the 54th minute Adama Diakhaby was unable to get on the end of his dangerous pull back.

Fan favourite Matty Cash joined the action in the 61st minute and was immediately involved, crashing a shot into a defender and causing the Charlton defence problems with his direct running.

More lacklustre passing from Forest, this time around their own box, almost led to chances for the visitors, and the home side appeared rattled with 20 minutes to go.

But Matty Cash injected some much needed drive into the team, and after more good combination with Joe Lolley, Forest created their best opportunity of the half. Cash fired in a cross from the right that deflected  into the feet of fellow substitute Nuno Costa, who was only able to steer the ball straight into the arms of Charlton goalkeeper Dillon Phillips.

Charlton stayed strong in the face of a Forest team increasingly pushing for an equaliser, but after relentless work in the last 10 minutes from the inventive Joe Lolley, one final chance came Forest’s way in the 94th minute. Tyler Walker had Forest fans out of their seats for the 2nd time after placing a cross from the right painstakingly wide of the far post. The offside flag however, spared his blushes this time.

Try as they might Forest could not find a way through an organised Charlton back line, and time was up for a disjointed Forest side who, on a night they could have gone 2nd, missed their rested stars.