Daniel Ayala ghosts in to fire in-form Middlesbrough past Nottingham Forest

A heroic performance from Dimi Konstantopoulos helped Middlesbrough claim a fourth consecutive victory as Nottingham Forest were beaten 2-1 at the City Ground.

The Boro keeper made a string of saves – including a Henri Lansbury penalty – as Forest’s own recent good form was brought to an end.

A seventh-minute Matt Mills volley had cancelled out an early strike from David Nugent in the third minute. But, while Konstantopoulos denied both Eric Lichaj and Ryan Mendes twice with a quartet of saves, Dorus de Vries was beaten when a defensive slip allowed Daniel Ayala to ghost in to score in the 32nd minute.

The match got off to a flying start, with Albert Adomah already having come close to a goal by the time Middlesbrough took a third-minute lead. George Friend had advanced down the left flank to deliver a driven, low cross into the centre, where Nugent found the space to prod home.

When Nelson Oliveira’s shot was deflected wide, Forest took advantage of the resulting corner, with Lansbury’s delivery picking out Mills, who powered home a volley, high into the back of the net, from six yards out, four minutes later.

It was the keeper De Vries who was the key figure for Forest however, as he twice made saves that denied Middlesbrough the lead for a second time.

A quick break saw Stewart Downing surge clear, only for the big Dutchman to thwart him by spreading himself and getting a foot to his low shot. Nugent forced De Vries into another save with a powerful, driven strike before the Forest stopper regained his feet to save again, after Adomah had pounced on the rebound.

The visitors did force their way ahead again however. When Grant Leadbitter drove in a cross, Kelvin Wilson only managed to head the ball back towards his own goal, with Ayala reacting quickest to beat De Vries to the ball and head home from a few yards out.

Forest almost hit back immediately, as the full-back Lichaj cut inside from the right flank and let fly with a left-footed screamer that was bound for the corner until Konstantopoulos saved acrobatically.

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