NICOLAS DOMINGUEZ earned 10-man Nottingham Forest a point with his first goal for the club.
Forest were reeling from a crazy 60 second spell just before the hour which saw defender Moussa Niakhate sent off and Brentford skipper Christian Norgaard scored from the resulting free-kick.
But Steve Cooper’s side hit back when sub Harry Toffolo’s cross was met by Dominguez who scored with a looping header that left a question mark over Dutch keeper Mark Flekken.
The Bees keeper will be wondering how it went in though as the ball dipped late and fooled him as he reached out in vain to stop it.
Argentinian midfielder Dominguez was a deadline day signing from Bologna – but his day ended on a low note when he then limped off injured.
But it was another day of lengthy VAR delays – and resulted in 13 minutes of stoppage time at the end.
Brentford have not won in the league since August – but they stopped a run of three successive defeats.
But the result means that Cooper has yet to get the better of Brentford boss Thomas Frank – a run stretching back to the Welshman’s days as Swansea manager.
This was the match chosen by Sky Sports as a game which would not detract from their coverage of the Ryder Cup.
And for long periods – they were right as both teams turned in a below par display.
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One of the talking points of the half was the fact that Brazilian defender Murillo made his Forest debut after a deadline move from Corinthians.
But his shirt had his name spelt wrongly – with an extra ‘R’ – but it was corrected after the break.
Murillo was soon involved in the action as he flicked on a Callum Hudson-Odoi ball for Taiwo Awoniyi to net from close range.
But the effort was ruled out for offside following a VAR check.
It was stalemate until the break as Forest threatened occasionally as Brentford remained cautious.
But Thomas Frank’s side almost grabbed the lead on the stroke of half-time.
Vitaly Janelt’s shot took a deflection off Serge Aurier, but Forest keeper Matt Turner reacted quickly to parry the ball out.
But in the scramble that followed, Wissa looked to have scored but his shot was brilliantly blocked by Ibrahim Sangare.
If Turner had been outstanding then, he was quite the opposite seven minutes after the break when he was caught hesitating on the ball by Wissa. As the ball rolled towards goal, Wily Boly was able to clear in time.
But then Forest were handed a double blow in the space of 60 seconds.
Niakhate had already been booked after 33 minutes for a late challenge on Mathias Jensen.
So when he did similar in the 56th minute – bringing down Wissa – ref Paul Tierney showed him a second yellow card.
Jensen took the resulting free-kick, and Norgard headed home from eight yards out. The goal was given after a lengthy VAR check
But the 10 men of Forest drew level seven minutes later.
Sub Toffolo’s first major contribution came when he crossed for Dominguez to head home.
It was a looping header that deceived Flekken who appeared to be caught in two minds.
Brentford threatened a late winner when Bryan Mbeumo raced clear but sub Morgan-Gibbs-White stopped him with a superbly timed challenge.
Gibbs-White had been dropped for the game, but Cooper will have been glad he was on the field at that moment.
But both sides went for the victory in a frantic stoppage tjme that contrasted wildly with the first half.
Murillo finished the game on a high with a goal-line clearance that kept Forest on level terms.
Here is how the action unfolded…
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