Brighton’s visit to the City Ground last season ended in a 7-0 demolition at the hands of Nuno Espirito Santo’s Forest.
After the defeat, manager Fabian Hurzeler reportedly burnt his tactical plans for the match in front of his players.
Brighton looked like they had a point to prove on Sunday as they search for a spot in Europe.
The Seagulls started brightly as Sels was forced into action to keep out Yankuba Minteh before Rutter failed to hit the target after arriving to meet an early cross from De Cuyper.
Rutter then had an effort cleared off the line by Sangare after a corner as the visitors continued to pile the pressure on Forest in the opening 10 minutes.
Gomez was also denied not much later as Morato, standing in for injured centre-back Murillo, made another goal line clearance to save Forest’s blushes.
In fact, Hurzeler’s men had more than 65% of possession and registered nine shots inside the opening 20 minutes – the most attempts ever during that period of a Premier League match.
And their pressure paid off as De Cuyper, who had troubled the Forest backline with his deliveries into the box, bagged his second goal for the club since signing from Club Brugge in the summer.
The visitors had to dig in to see off Forest’s efforts in the closing stages but Tzimas, who replaced Danny Welbeck in the 65th minute, eased the pressure by opening his Premier League account with two minutes left to play.
