West Ham leave it late to win dramatic thriller against Nottingham Forest
Forest had made a habit of making fast starts, scoring each of their four previous first-half PL goals inside five minutes, yet it was West Ham who were ahead early on.
Hoping to kick-start a faltering league campaign in which the Hammers had won just one of their previous seven PL matches (D1, L5), Lucas Paquetá pounced on a loose Nicolás Domínguez pass before firing low into the corner for his second goal of the week.
Despite being incredibly quick out of the blocks, the visitors hadn’t scored a PL goal between the sixth minute and HT all season, and that trend looked likely to continue until the visitors snatched a timely equaliser.
On the stroke of HT, a turnover in the middle of the pitch led to Morgan Gibbs-White racing through on goal, and when his low shot was parried, Taiwo Awoniyi was on hand to tuck into an empty net.
The second half got off to a lively start with chances at both ends; the visitors almost went ahead after a swift counterattack saw Awoniyi and Anthony Elanga combining well before Emerson sent a low strike just wide of the post at the opposite end.
In contrast to the opening 45 minutes, the second period was full of action with both sides displaying attacking intent and producing a goal apiece within a three-minute period.
First, Forest got themselves ahead via a first-time Elanga strike following Ola Aina’s pull-back, yet they were quickly pegged back when Jarrod Bowen nodded in James Ward-Prowse’s brilliant corner kick.
Another Forest mix-up at the back saw Tomáš Souček turn his sliding effort onto the crossbar with the contest now wide open.
Odysseas Vlachodimos made a terrific save late on to deny Souček once more, but the Czech international finally found the back of the net with a stooping header, ultimately sealing all three points for the Londoners.
That goal helped West Ham end a run of three PL games without victory directly following midweek European involvement, climbing to 9th in the PL standings.
Meanwhile, Steve Cooper’s side will be bitterly disappointed to come away with nothing as they remain seven points above the drop zone.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Tomáš Souček (West Ham United)
