Goals from Igor Jesus and Taiwo Awoniyi consigned Brentford to a 2-0 loss to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.

Forest led at the break thanks to Jesus’s volley, and substitute Awoniyi added a second late on, as the Bees fell to a rare defeat at Gtech Community Stadium.

Head coach Keith Andrews named an unchanged side for Forest’s visit to west London.

Jordan Henderson replaced January signing Kaye Furo on the bench. The midfielder missed the 2-0 defeat to Chelsea the previous weekend due to an ankle injury.

The sides traded chances inside the opening 10 minutes. Kevin Schade burst down the left, leaving Ola Aina in his wake, and delivered a low cross into the box which was turned wide by Igor Thiago.

Morgan Gibbs-White held off Schade and cut the ball back for Jesus, whose first-time effort deflected wide for a corner.

The visitors took the lead with 12 minutes on the clock. Under pressure from Rico Henry, Aina hooked in a cross from the byline, and Jesus chested the ball down and volleyed into the far corner of the net.

After the restart, Ibrahim Sangaré exchanged passes with Jesus on the edge of Brentford’s box and bent the ball narrowly wide of Caoimhín Kelleher’s left post.

Midway through the half, a Michael Kayode long throw led to pinball in the Forest penalty area. Mathias Jensen and Mikkel Damsgaard both saw shots blocked before the away side hacked to safety.

Andrews was forced into a double substitution before the break: injured duo Kristoffer Ajer and Damsgaard were replaced by Sepp van den Berg and Dango Ouattara.

Ouattara made an immediate impact. The forward showed clever movement to latch onto Jensen’s through ball and get in behind Forest’s backline, but Matz Sels advanced off his line quickly to smother his shot.

Yehor Yarmoliuk’s cross clipped Elliot Anderson and Sels, on his goal line, tipped the ball over the bar for a corner.

In the final action of the half, another Kayode long throw was glanced just wide by van den Berg.

Brentford started the second half on top but struggled to convert possession and territory into clear-cut chances.

On 76 minutes, Vitaly Janelt whipped in a free-kick from the right. Gibbs-White made first contact in a crowded penalty area and the ball dropped for Thiago, who was able to take a touch before poking wide of Sels’ right post.

Then came the sucker punch. Substitute Awoniyi, freed down the right by Gibbs-White, drove past van den Berg and squeezed the ball beyond Kelleher to double Forest’s lead.

Ouattara met Jensen’s free-kick with a powerful header as the Bees looked to reduce the deficit, but the ball flew just over the bar. Ouattara’s corner was then nodded wide by Schade.

There was to be no late drama at the Gtech as Andrews’ side suffered only their second defeat of the season on home soil.

Brentford (4-3-3): Kelleher; Kayode (Lewis-Potter 81), Ajer (van den Berg 37), Collins, Henry (Hickey 67); Janelt, Yarmoliuk (Henderson 81), Jensen; Damsgaard (Ouattara 37), Thiago, Schade

Subs: Valdimarsson, Pinnock, Nelson, Donovan

Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1): Sels; Aina, Milenković, Murillo, Williams; Sangaré, Anderson; Domínguez (Hutchinson 61), Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi (Morato 87); Jesus (Awoniyi 68)

Subs: Gunn, Ndoye, Yates, McAtee, Bakwa, Savona

Attendance: 17,134

Andrews: Key moments cost us

Head coach Keith Andrews was disappointed that key moments in the game didn’t go Brentford’s way.

"Forest took their chances – two shots on target, three points," said the Bees boss. "If we’re being honest, we can do better with those.

"At the other end, we needed to be more clinical and ruthless when we created opportunities.

"The performance levels were pretty good – we didn’t hit top, top levels – but we did enough to get something from the game.

"I thought we were a bit static at times. We sustained attacks pretty well during the second half. Equally, they were sitting mid to low and defended their box really well."

Janelt: We have to find solutions

Brentford midfielder Vitaly Janelt was left frustrated by Brentford’s 2-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.

The Bees dominated the ball at the Gtech but were unable to breach a stubborn backline.

“We weren’t good enough today,” Janelt admitted.

“It took us too long to settle into the game. They scored the first goal and controlled it for 25 minutes.

“We came back into the game but didn’t score. We deserved to lose today.

“We have to find solutions against teams when they drop lower and play in a low block. We have to create more chances.”