‘Big Dog’ Ivan Toney back with a bang as Brentford beat Nottingham Forest 3-2
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TV replays showed Brentford's Ivan Toney moving the ball twice from its original placing before a free kick..
PHOTO: REUTERS
LONDON – England striker Ivan Toney scored 19 minutes into his comeback from an eight-month ban for betting offences, as Brentford ended a five-match losing streak with a 3-2 home win against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Jan 20.
The 27-year-old “Big Dog”, handed the captain’s armband and welcomed back to considerable fanfare, opened his account for the season with a stunning free kick bent to the right around the defensive wall.
Television replays showed he had twice moved the ball from its original position, however, without the referee being alerted and without the Forest players reacting.
“I think you have a yard either way. I just moved it and bent it around the corner,” he told Sky Sports after the match.
The equaliser energised the mood, after Brazilian midfielder Danilo hushed the crowd in the third minute with a stunning half-volley straight past goalkeeper Mark Flekken, and Brentford began to click and the game came alight.
Toney, his club’s top scorer last season with 20 goals in 33 league appearances, was barred from all football last May for 232 breaches of the betting rules.
His return after 259 days, ironically in a shirt sponsored by a betting company, could not come soon enough for the Bees faithful who had suffered as their side went winless in seven matches in all competitions.
“It means a lot. I’m just buzzing to be back, scoring goals for the team,” he said. “I manifest things like this. Before I left my house, I thought, ‘we’re winning today and I’m scoring’. I’m grateful to be back. I missed it so much. I’m back.”
Brentford, who moved up to 14th on 22 points and six points clear of the drop zone with Forest (20) dropping to 16th, went 2-1 ahead in the 58th minute when Ben Mee headed powerfully in off Mathias Jensen’s corner but Forest hit back through Chris Wood in the 65th.
The jubilant away fans had only minutes to celebrate as Neal Maupay then rifled a shot into the bottom corner in the 68th with the goal standing after a video assistant referee review for potential handball.
Brentford’s Neal Maupay scores their third, winning goal.
Remarkably, Toney’s goal was his first since he scored an equaliser against Forest in the corresponding fixture in April 2023. He celebrated by running to the bench and raising a shirt with the words “For you, Uncle Brian” written on it, which the BBC believed to be in honour of a family member.
Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo said his team played well, with fighting spirit, and would return to Nottingham with their heads held high but he questioned Toney’s goal, and the ball being moved, as well as Maupay’s winner.
“The law is clear. Every situation, every goal must be checked and every situation that leads to a goal must be checked. I don’t know if they didn’t check or not,” he said.
Brentford manager Thomas Frank hailed Toney for scoring a “clever goal” and said he had not been aware of any movement at the time. “He set the stage of course. I must say classic Ivan. He loves the big stage, he thrives there,” he said.
On Jan 21, Sheffield United substitute Ollie McBurnie scored a penalty deep in stoppage time to give the bottom side a deserved 2-2 home draw with sixth-placed West Ham United, in a game where each side had a man sent off late on. REUTERS
