Chris Wood scores two as Nottingham Forest beat Brentford in English Premier League opener

Monday, 18 August 2025

Chris Wood scored twice as Nottingham Forest began the English Premier League season with a 3-1 win over Brentford on Sunday (Monday NZ time).

The All Whites striker has now scored 91 goals in 264 Premier League appearances.

Wood is set to be named in the All Whites squad for next month’s Soccer Ashes friendlies against Australia’s Socceroos on Tuesday.

Chris Wood began the English Premier League season with a brace as Nottingham Forest beat Brentford 3-1 at their City Ground home in their opening match.

The All Whites striker’s 90th and 91st Premier League goals moved him within one of former Australian star Mark Viduka’s tally of 92, putting him on the verge of claiming trans-Tasman bragging rights ahead of the Soccer Ashes.

Wood said last week that he was looking forward to reaching the “pretty damn huge” milestone of 100 Premier League goals and he is now only nine goals away from becoming just the seventh player from outside Europe to do so.

Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood rounds Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher on his way to scoring his second goal.

The 33-year-old’s two goals against Brentford matched the number he scored in his last 11 outings last season, where he cooled off after scoring 18 in 25 to send Forest on their way towards a seventh-place finish – 10 places higher than they managed the season before, where they were battling to avoid relegation.

Wood's first came just five minutes in, after he leapt to contest an Elliot Anderson corner with three Brentford defenders paying him close attention.

They somehow all allowed the ball to bounce in the box and the Kiwi poked it home with a first-time finish, scoring his 90th Premier League goal and moving clear of England international Marcus Rashford on the all-time list.

For the third season in a row, Wood scored with his first shot on target. A year previously – to the day – he opened the scoring as Forest drew 1-1 with AFC Bournemouth, while just under a year before that he scored the winner as Forest beat Sheffield United 1-1.

New Swiss signing Dan Ndoye doubled Forest's lead in the 42nd minute with a diving heade that met a ball in from Morgan Gibbs-White, before Wood capped a fantastic first half two minutes into stoppage time.

Anderson pounded on a slightly wayward pass by Brentford centre back Sepp van den Berg just inside Forest’s half and played a first-time through-ball for Wood, who broke free after making an early run before rounding goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher calmly.

He then had the easiest of finishes to score his 91st Premier League goal, moving past Frenchman Olivier Giroud and joining England's James Beattie and Norway's Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on the new mark.

All Whites striker Chris Wood says scoring 100 goals in the English Premier League would be 'pretty damn huge'.

“It’s nice to get off the mark like that so early in a game, I think it settles everything personally and for the team and we kicked on massively,” Wood said after the game.

“It’s a great start and and the team did fantastically well in the first half, we did exactly we wanted to do and came in three goals to the good.”

Brentford pulled one goal back when Igor Thiago converted from the penalty spot in the 78th minute, but his cool strike down the middle didn’t spark a comeback.

Wood was replaced by Brazilian debutant Igor Jesus straight after the spot kick.

This was the seventh time he has scored a Premier League brace and the third time he has done so for Forest, with the first four coming during his four-and-a-half seasons at Burnley.

He has previously scored three hat-tricks – for Burnley against Wolverhampton Wanderers in April 2021, Forest against Newcastle United on Boxing Day 2023 and for Forest against Brighton & Hove Albion in February this year.

Since Portuguese coach Nuno took charge at Forest just before Christmas in 2023, Wood has scored 33 goals in 53 Premier League appearances.

Only Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, Manchester City's Erling Haaland and Newcastle United's Alexander Isak, who have all scored 37, have netted more in that time, while Wood's tally of 30 non-penalty goals has only been matched by Haaland.

Wood is set to be named in Darren Bazeley's All Whites squad on Tuesday for their Soccer Ashes friendlies against Australia's Socceroos in Canberra and Auckland next month.

He will be looking to add to his tally of 44 goals from 84 international appearances by opening his account against Australia at the sixth time of trying.

Wood first has an away trip to Crystal Palace next Sunday (kickoff 1am Monday NZ time) and a visit to the City Ground by West Ham United precisely a week later to navigate before then.