NOTTINGHAM Forest slipped off the top of the Championship table as Brighton held them to a frustrating 0-0 draw at the City Ground.
The Seagulls are now unbeaten in five visits to Forest – while the Reds have only beaten them once in eight attempts overall.
And they rarely looked like altering that run during a game in which both sides found it hard to carve out chances.
With Norwich winning at Blackpool, it saw Forest slip of the top of the table, despite extending their unbeaten run in the Championship.
Forest had to make a late change to their side with David Vaughan picking up an injury in the pre-match warm up, with Ben Osborn drafted in as a result. It left the Reds with only six substitutes on the bench.
Brighton carved out the first opportunity, with Joe Bennett advancing forward from full back to force a smart stop from Karl Darlow, who did well to hold on to the ball, with Craig Mackail-Smith ready to pounce on any rebound.
Forest hit back immediately as Chris Burke cut in from the right and looked to bend a shot towards the far post, with the outside of his boot, only to see the retreating Kazenga LuaLua make a vital block.
When Danny Fox delivered a cross from a deep position wide on the left, Henri Lansbury rose highest in the centre, but planted a firm header a few feet high of the target. A defensive error then gave away possession on the edge of the box, giving Lansbury the chance to prod the ball to Britt Assombalonga, but the striker fired wide after David Stockdale had raced quickly off his line to narrow the angle.
Following a scrappy start to the game, Forest began to find their feet, along with their attacking threat, with German midfielder Robert Tesche pushing into the box to send a crisply struck half-volley just wide, after taking a deflection.
Osborn was making the most of his unexpected start, but fired a cross straight at Stockdale after a clever pass from Burke had found him in a dangerous position to the right of goal.
Tesche was denied a goal by a fantastic save from Stockdale, after powerful strike from the Forest man had taken a wicked deflection, sending it spinning towards the corner of the net. The former Hamburg player was clearly in the mood to have a crack, as he let fly with another driven effort ten minutes before the break, this time firing narrowly high and wide.
Brighton almost stunned Forest, who had been enjoying a dominant spell, on the break, as LuaLua fed Adrian Colunga, but his side-footed shot, from just inside the box, was fired right at Darlow, who again held well.
While another swift counter saw the visitors come close again, but Mackail-Smith could not quite connect with Bennett's fizzing ball across the face of goal. The striker did connect with Bruno Saltor's floated cross in injury time, but saw his glancing header drop just wide.
Forest's first chance of the second half saw Antonio cut the ball back dangerously for Lansbury, who could not quite get the ball out from under his feet ended up guiding his shot wide.
Danny Fox had been booked for a foul just before the interval and Bennett joined him in the referee's notebook in the 52nd minute, after he had lunged in on Lansbury. Four minutes after that Tesche was also cautioned, for a late tackle.
The German was replaced in the 61st minute, as Pearce introduced a little more attacking threat, in the form of Jamie Paterson. It was Antonio who won a dangerous free kick, wide on the left, as his run was brought to a halt by Saltor and Paterson's flicked header, from Lansbury's resulting cross, was blocked a few yards out, amid a melee of players.
Lansbury and Antonio were both wildly off target with shots from range, as Forest struggled to find their attacking cohesion. Lars Veldwijk almost scored with his first touch, after replacing Lansbury. Fox's free kick picked out the big Dutch striker at the far post, where he won the battle to connect with the ball, but bundled a scrambled effort into the side netting.
Brighton came close to snatching the win when Mackail-Smith opened up his body to fire a shot across goal and towards the far post, but it fizzed just wide of the upright.
But Mancienne could and should have won it for Forest, when presented with a free header, from an Osborn corner, but the defender powered the ball down into the turf and sent it bouncing over the bar.
Forest: Darlow, Hunt, Mancienne, Wilson, Fox, Tesche (Paterson 61), Osborn, Burke, Lansbury (Veldwijk 77), Antonio (Grant 88), Assombalonga. Subs: de Vries, Lichaj, Lascelles.
Brighton: Stockdale, Saltor, Bennett, Greer, Dunk, Crofts, Mackail-Smith, Forster-Caskey (Gardner 88), Holla (Ince 64), Colunga (McCourt 87), LuaLua. Subs: Walton, Hughes, O'Grady, Teixeira.
Referee: Robert Madley
Attendance: 23,811 (912 away)
