Nottingham Forest opened the Premier League season with a 3-1 victory over Brentford at the City Ground on Sunday, powered by a first-half brace from Chris Wood and a debut goal from £34 million signing Dan Ndoye. Wood struck after five minutes from a corner and added his second in first-half stoppage time, while Ndoye headed home a Morgan Gibbs-White cross three minutes before the interval to give Nuno Espirito Santo’s side a 3-0 lead at half-time. Brentford, playing their first competitive match under new head coach Keith Andrews, were out-played for long periods and managed only a late consolation when Igor Thiago converted a 78th-minute penalty after Ibrahim Sangaré handled in the area. The visitors travelled without last season’s 19-goal striker Yoane Wissa amid uncertainty over his future, and are adjusting to the summer departures of Bryan Mbeumo and former manager Thomas Frank. The win is Forest’s first on an opening day since 1996 and extends Wood’s prolific run under Espirito Santo to 33 league goals, bettered in that span only by Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak. Forest unveiled new recruits James McAtee and Omari Hutchinson before kick-off as the club prepares for its return to European competition later this year.