Brentford held scoreless, lose 2-0

Brentford held scoreless, lose 2-0
Matchweek: 23
Date: Sunday, 25 January 2026
Kickoff time: 14:00
Weather: Cold
January 25
Kickoff 14:00
Cold 8°

The Bees were unable to convert on a number of scoring chances, and lost at home for only the second time this season. Perhaps more worryingly, they lost Mikkel Damsgaard and Kristoffer Ajer to injuries, with both leaving the game in the 37th minute. The only Brazilian "Igor" to score was Igor Jesus, who made something out of nothing to score the opener.

Milestones

It feels like there have been a lot of milestones for the Bees lately.

Rico's 100th Prem game

Longtime Bee, Rico Henry started the game, his 100th appearance in the Premier League. That adds nicely to his total of 110 games in the Championship for the Bees.

Hickey's 50th Prem game

Aaron Hickey came off the bench as a second-half substitute for Henry, making his 50th league appearance for the Bees. The two players went through very long injury recovery periods together and frequently finish each other's starts.

The game in numbers

1

Shot on target (for)

The Bees only managed a single shot on target, that coming from Dango Ouattara, shortly after his introduction.

2

Shots on target (against)

For the second game in a row, the Bees gave up 2 shots on target and 2 goals.

3

Kilometres

Bees players covered 3 kilometres more than their Forest opposition, out-moving them 111km to 108km.

4

Defensive groupings

Brentford played with four different defensive setups throughout the game:

  • Start: Kayode-Ajer-Collins-Henry
  • 37th minute: Kayode-van den Berg-Collins-Henry
  • 67th minute: Kayode-van den Berg-Collins-Hickey
  • 81st minute: Hickey-van den Berg-Collins
5

Substitutes

Keith Andrews used all 5 of his substitutes for the tenth time this season.

37

Minutes

Mikkel Damsgaard and Kristoffer Ajer both left the game in the 37th minute, Damsgaard with a knee injury and Ajer with a bad ankle.

66

% Possession

The Bees have twice had over 60% possession in the league this season, and lost both games 2-0. The other occasion was at Crystal Palace.

This story was published on 26 January 2026. It was written by Dennis Flood. The image at the top of this story was generated using AI.