Nottingham Forest 4-0 West Brom - Report

On a night where referee David Webb was at the heart of the action, Steve Bruce's side were thumped 4-0 with Brennan Johnson, Ryan Yates, Jack Colback and Sam Surridge all on target for the hosts.

But it was the officiating which Bruce will feel had a big say in Forest running out such convincing winners.

Steve Cooper's side took the lead in the 19th minute when Johnson converted a penalty after Darnell Furlong inadvertently blocked a Yates strike with his hand.

The wing-back picked up a debatable second yellow for the block - which meant the Baggies had to play the remaining 70 minutes with 10 men.

But things then got even worse for Albion when they were correctly awarded a throw-in which Webb overruled.

From that throw, Forest went on to win a corner from which Yates powered in a header.

The hosts made it 3-0 before the break when Colback volleyed in from the edge of the box with a shot that may have been a cross.

Surridge then wrapped up the scoring in added time at the end of the second-half.

Bruce opted to make three changes from the team that grabbed a last-minute winner against Blackpool when naming his starting line-up.

And it's fair to say all three selections were controversial.

In defence, Kyle Bartley returned at the expense of Semi Ajayi despite the Nigerian international having been one of Albion's better performers over the past few months.

And the boss also made some big calls in central midfield where Jake Livermore was joined by Alex Mowatt and Adam Reach with Jayson Molumby and Taylor Gardner-Hickman surprisingly on the bench.

In a 3-5-2 formation, Karlan Grant continued to partner Andy Carroll up front.

Forest lined up in a 3-4-1-2 formation that saw Philip Zonckernagel in the number 10 role.

With Villa loanee Keinan Davis injured, Sam Surridge lined up in the front two alongside Johnson.

The game got underway with Albion knowing a win would take them to within three points of the play-offs.

And they made a decent start with Bruce's men the brighter of the two teams in the opening 10 minutes.

In the blink of an eye, though, the game descended into a brawl with a yellow card picked up by Furlong in the 14th minute the start of the chaos. The wing-back received his booking for a late challenge on Zinckernagel.

But four minutes later he got a second yellow - and subsequent red - when he blocked Ryan Yates' shot in the box with his hand.

Furlong was on the floor at the time with the wing-back having slid in to make a well-timed challenge on Surridge a second earlier.

But he then raised his leg in a bid to try and block Yates' shot with the ball hitting his arm.

Referee Webb had little choice but to point to the spot.

But it was debatable whether Furlong's actions warranted a second yellow with that decision enraging the Baggies bench.

Johnson converted the penalty for his 16th goal of the season.

Four minutes later the home side doubled their lead with the actions of Webb once again enraging Bruce and his bench.

After the linesman correctly awarded the Baggies a throw, the referee overruled the decision in Forest's favour.

And that led to them winning a corner from which Yates powered home with a brilliant header.

At 2-0 down, the Baggies were in danger of being blown away with Bruce opting to switch Grant for Taylor Gardner-Hickman on the half-hour.

But the sense of injustice felt by Albion's players at big decisions going against them started to boil over.

Livermore angrily screamed at Webb in the centre circle before then making his way over to the touchline to remonstrate with the fourth official.

Gardner-Hickman then received a yellow card for recklessly smashing the ball into the crowd after the referee had blown to stop play.

And as if things couldn't get any worse, Forest went on to make it 3-0 just before the break when Colback -with either a cross or a shot - spectacularly volleyed the ball into the back of the net from outside the box.

The second-half proved to be nothing but a procession with Forest enjoying a lot of possession in and around the Baggies box while Albion struggled to get out of their half.

But for all their dominance, there was a relaxed feel to the hosts play with Cooper's men only really threatening from distance.

They did, though, get a fourth when Surridge entered the box in stoppage time and fired past David Button into the roof of the net.

TEAMS

Nottingham Forest (3-4-1-2): Samba, Worrall, McKenna (Cook 74), Figueiredo, Spence (Laryea 79), Yates (Cafu 79), Garner, Colback, Zinckernagel, Surridge, Johnson.

Subs not used: Horvath, Lolley, Mighten, Silva

Albion (3-5-2): Button, O’Shea, Bartley, Clarke, Furlong, Livermore, Mowatt (Molumby 54), Reach, Townsend, Carroll (Phillips 74), Grant (Gardner-Hickman 29).

Subs not used: Palmer, Ajayi, Diangana, Robinson.