Nottingham Forest unmarked with victory over West Ham

Nottingham Forest won their first Premier League home game in 23 years, beating West Ham 1-0.

The City Ground had not hosted a top-level match since 1999, but Taiwo Awoniyi secured a winning homecoming for Forest with a first-half goal.

The striker, who set a club record until Saturday night this summer, scored from close range to become the first Forest player to score a Premier League goal since Chris Bert Williams many years ago. rice field.

They bounced back after their opening weekend loss to Newcastle, and based on this evidence, Steve Cooper’s men would be a welcome addition to the top flight.

However, goalkeeper Dean Henderson thanked them for keeping the three points as he saved a late penalty for Declan Rice.

He also made several other saves while Pablo Fornals and Saeed Ben Rama both hit the underside of the ill-fated Hammers’ crossbar.

Boss David Moyes is left scratching his head over how his team has fared, but with a 2–2 loss, the Hammers should kick-start the season soon.

Forest fans have waited 8,492 days to sing the famous national anthem “Mull of Kintyre” before a Premier League match.

And their team got off to an electric start in the opening 15 minutes, playing with high intensity and picking up speed to push forward.

West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski had to be careful not to upset Vladimir Kfar’s clearance.

The Hummers were in danger of being overrun but thought they were able to gain a foothold in the game and took the lead in the 42nd minute with only VAR intervening.

A quick break from a Forest set-piece allowed Rice to slide into Ben Rama and stab him into the bottom corner.

However, Forest, like VAR official Michael Salisbury, felt that Orel Mangala was being held back in the build-up and, after looking at the pitchside monitors, referee Robert Jones agreed and the goal was ruled out. .

Perhaps inevitably, Forest took the lead just minutes later in stoppage time in the first half.

It’s a mess and I don’t have a picture book, but no one in red cared about it even though I waited so long.

Harry Tofolo surged into the area and made a full cutback to Jesse Lingard. Jesse Lingard seemed destined to score against his old club, but he hurt his shot.

Luckily Ben Jonson deflected it to Awoniyi’s knee and the ball landed in the bottom corner.

It was a sweet moment for Lingard to score after throwing banknotes at him as he took a corner kick, while Hummers fans were upset that he was denied the chance to return to the club permanently this summer. I guess.

Within 25 seconds of the restart, West Ham were within millimeters of leveling and saw Fournalls launch a 20-yard curling shot into the underside of the crossbar and Thomas Soucek’s header saved by Henderson from the rebound.

However, Forest rediscovered their vigor and soon suffered VAR bad luck as a goal was disallowed.

Mangala broke in, played on Brennan Johnson and stabbed home, but from an offside position.

It was a 100 mph thing and West Ham were like paint off the equalizer again. When Ben Rama was denied by Woodwork, his 20-yard free kick hit the underside of the crossbar and fell into the grateful hands of Henderson.

West Ham thought the moment had finally come midway through the second half when the penalty was awarded.

Soucek’s goal-bound shot, broken in speed, hit Scott McKenna’s arm, and after a lengthy check on the monitor, Jones pointed to the spot.

But Henderson, who is notorious for saving penalties, went low to keep Rice’s efforts out.

West Ham then demanded a leveler, so Forest needed Williams to clear Kurt Zuma’s header from the line, but nothing stopped this from being Forest’s day.