NOTTINGHAM Forest endured another nightmare afternoon at the City Ground, as Luke Chambers was shown a controversial red card amid a painful 3-0 defeat at the hands of table topping Southampton.

The Forest skipper was sent off four minutes into the second half for an alleged elbow on David Connolly, as the Reds suffered a sixth match without a goal on home turf.

It had been 26 years since the Reds had last failed to net in a home league game against the Saints.

But, asides from a short flurry of pressure in the first half, Steve Cotterill's side rarely looked like extending their run of goals against the south coast club, in the face of a dominant display by the visitors.

The sending off of Chambers was a significant factor in the events of another troubling afternoon – but Forest were already 1-0 down before they were reduced to ten men, following a first half strike from Guly Do Prado.

Goals from Connolly and Morgan Schneiderlin only rubbed salt in the wound for the Reds, who remain rooted in the bottom three.

Cotterill made two changes to his side, with Greg Cunningham returning from a hamstring problem to replace Kieron Freeman, who joined Notts County on loan this week, and Marlon Harewood handed his first start since returning to the club.

The striker took the place of Andy Reid, who dropped to the bench, as Forest adopted a 4-4-2 formation at the City Ground.

It was Lee Camp who was the integral figure for Forest early on, however, as the keeper made an outstanding save to deny the visitors a lead.

Dean Hammond must have thought he had scored when he let fly with a vicious 20-yard drive, but Camp got across goal superbly, to push the shot away at full stretch.

Southampton's slow, patient, possession football was causing frustration among the Forest fans, who quickly became restless.

And it was Camp who was called upon again when Adam :Lallana struck a crisp, rising shot, which the keeper held comfortably.

Forest did not threaten seriously until the 19th minute, when Marcus Tudgay took advantage of the space he was given down the right to flash a cross to the near post, where Harewood was denied a chance by a fine, vital challenge from Jos Hooiveld.

The home side were building a short spell of pressure and Kelvin Davis had to be alert when Tudgay broke the offside trap and tried to catch the keeper out with an early, lofted shot.

Hooiveld then picked up a deserved booking when he blatantly tripped Tudgay as the striker threatened to break clear.

And, from the resulting free kick, Lewis McGugan's fizzing low shot was deflected perfectly into the path of Harewood, ten yards from goal, when the striker was only denied by a fine block from Hooiveld.

It proved to be a decisive moment as, two minutes later, the visitors took the lead.

Forest's players felt Jack Cork was offside when he broke clear down the right, but the former Chelsea man was allowed to continue and square the ball into the path of David Connolly.

The striker saw his shot brilliantly saved by Camp, but the rebound fell kindly for Do Prado, who lashed the ball emphatically into the back of the net.

Forest missed a golden opportunity to level when, following a near post flick on from Luke Chambers, Joel Lynch headed badly over the bar with the goal at his mercy at the back stick.

Another McGugan free kick, driven with power from 25-yards, had Davis stretched to his limit, with the keeper seeing the ball late before getting down well to his left to push away.

The second half began badly for Forest, as they found themselves reduced to ten men in controversial circumstances, in the 49th minunte.

Chambers won a strong aerial challenge with Connolly and, after an angry reaction from the Southampton players, referee Ilderton flashed a red card.

The defender had led with his arm as he challenged, but there seemed to be little intent to elbow the striker. The decision promoted angry exchanges on and off the pitch, with a furious Cotterill becoming embroiled in a row with Southampton goalkeeping coach Jim Stannard.

Forest could hardly have found themselves reduced to ten men against worse opposition, with Southampton having already held on to possession for long periods when the two sides had been equal in numbers.

It was Moussi who slotted in the centre of defence, with McGugan adopting a central midfield role and Tudgay dropping onto the right flank.

It was predictable that it would be Connolly, the man at the centre of Chambers' sending off, that would pop up with a second, decisive goal for Southampton, in the 65th minute.

Dan Harding was given the room to fire in a delightful ball from the right and Connolly ghosted in at the near post to flick a simple finish beyond Camp.

Referee Ilderton did not improve his popularity with Forest fans when he failed to award a corner when Harding had clearly flicked the ball away from McCleary with a sliding challenge.

Over the course of the next 11 minutes, Forest made three substitutions, which ultimately saw Paul Anderson brought on as a right-sided wing back and Gunter move into the centre of defence. While Robbie Findley and Dexter Blackstock provided a new look strike force.

But it was the visitors who were to score again, in spectacular fashion, as Morgan Schneiderlin let fly with a 30-yard rocket that fizzed beyond Camp and into the back of the net.

And it required outstanding work from Camp to prevent the scoreline from becoming more emphatic, as the keeper made superb saves to deny both Lee Holmes and Hammond, as Southampton went in search of a fourth goal.

 

Forest: Camp, Gunter, Chambers, Lynch, Cunningham, McCleary, Moussi, Greening, McGugan (Anderson 66), Tudgay (Blackstock 77), Harewood (Findley 72). Subs: Smith, Reid.

 

Southampton: Davis, Harding (Butterfield 86), Schneiderlin, Cork, Do Prado (Holmes 71), Fox, Hammond, Martin, Lallana (Reeves 91), Connolly, Hooiveld. Subs: Bialkowski, De Ridder.