NOTTINGHAM, England, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Goals by Maxim De Cuyper and Stefanos Tzimas gave Brighton & Hove Albion a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Sunday, a result that moved Fabian Huerzeler's side to fifth place in the Premier League.
The visitors set the tempo early, firing 13 shots in the first half compared to Forest's eight, while enjoying the lion's share of possession.
The breakthrough came in first-half stoppage time when Georginio Rutter delivered a precise ball into the box, finding an unmarked De Cuyper in acres of space. The Belgian full back calmly slotted his effort past Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels to register his second league goal of the campaign.
Brighton sealed victory in the 88th minute when 19-year-old Greek forward Tzimas pounced on a poor header back by Forest defender Morato.
Forest had entered the game buoyed by consecutive league victories, including a 3-0 win at champions Liverpool.
Despite showing flashes of promise, Sean Dyche's side failed to break the visitors' resolute defence and now sit 16th in the table with 12 points. Brighton have 22, one behind fourth-placed Chelsea who have a game in hand.
"I think it was probably the best football we've played all season for the first 20 minutes," Brighton captain Lewis Dunk told Sky Sports.
"Then they changed their press and we couldn't quite get to grips with it. I think in the first half we were the better side and then in the second half we just had to dig deep.
"We probably need to keep the ball a bit better in the second half but sometimes you need to win a bit ugly and that's what we did today."
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru;)
