Ivan Toney explains thinking behind '1000 IQ' free kick in emotional interview after Brentford return

Ivan Toney explained the thinking behind his incredible '1000 IQ' free kick in his first post-match interview for almost nine months.

Toney scored Brentford's first equaliser in an eventual 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest at the Gtech Community Stadium.

It was a much-needed win for Thomas Frank's side, who had lost their last five Premier League matches.

Danilo put the visitors ahead on three minutes, before Toney, who has served an eight-month ban for breaching FA betting rules, marked his comeback with a free kick on 19 minutes.

Goals from Ben Mee and Neal Maupay secured victory for Brentford, either side of Chris Wood's close range strike on 65 minutes for Forest.

It wasn't only Toney's free kick - his first goal since April - that caught the attention, but the manner in which it was scored.

The 27-year-old curled his effort around the Forest wall and into the bottom right corner beyond goalkeeper Matt Turner.

But one eagle-eyed fan spotted how he moved the ball by a yard after Forest had set up their wall - with no-one from the opposing team, or seemingly the officials, spotting it.

From there, Toney struck his effort perfectly to find the back of the net.

Ivan Toney adjusting the position of the ball after the wall had been positioned and set: pic.twitter.com/rKLx795xMs

— Caño Football (@CanoFootball) January 20, 2024

And speaking to Sky Sports after the match, the Brentford star revealed his thinking behind the decision.

He said: "I practice them in training - everyone batters me when I put them in the stands in the car park, but I delivered, so that was good.

"I think you normally have a yard either way, and I just moved it and bent it around the corner.

"I'm grateful it went in, and I'm grateful to be back there with the lads. I've missed them so much, the fans, everyone. I'm back."

He also spoke of how he felt about returning to the pitch for the first time this season - and his delight for Maupay in scoring the winner.

"He said: 100 per cent [struggling towards the end]. I felt it coming to the 70th minute, I had to get a gel.

"But the adrenaline, hearing the fans screaming, knowing you're in a winning position, there's no better feeling. No better feeling.

"We worked hard today. We've been grafting, even though we've been losing, we've been grafting. The boys deserved it.

"I'm glad for Neal [Maupay], because he works hard in training, we've got a partnership and I hope we can score lots of goals together.

"It means a lot [coming back]. It's been a long time coming. I manifested this [the goal], around the time I was out. I'm here now, and I'm just buzzing to be back scoring goals and winning with the team.

"I manifested things like this. Before the game, before I left my house, I thought, 'Yeah, we're winning today and I'm scoring'. I made it happen, so it's good."