Hammers Buried By Forest

Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood had scored all of their home goals in the Premier League this season and he added another to his tally on Saturday afternoon, as they beat West Ham United 3-0 at The City Ground.

Jean-Clair Todibo had recovered from the knock he picked up during the victory over Manchester United six days earlier, meaning Julen Lopetegui only made two changes to his starting line-up for this encounter, as the French loanee, along with Crysencio Summerville came into the starting line-up, while Michail Antonio and Carlos Soler dropped to the bench. Tomáš Souček was ill with a virus.

Alphonse Areola had picked up a knock in training, which meant that Wes Foderingham was in the matchday squad to provide cover for the Frenchman. Youngsters Kaelan Casey and Luis Guilherme were also included on the bench. James Ward-Prowse was ineligible to play against his parent club.

West Ham were looking to build on last weekend’s win over the Red Devils, while their opponents were looking for a third straight victory. Although the Hammers were determined not to let the hosts find a quick breakthrough, Nuno Espírito Santo’s side were creating early chances.

Anthony Elanga and Nicolás Domínguez both tried their luck but neither could beat visiting goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański. Morgan Gibbs-White then had his free-kick blocked, before Murillo and Wood kept up the pressure but missed the target.

It would not be long before Wood, who has a good record against the East Londoners was to get his name on the scoresheet however, as twenty seven minutes had passed when the New Zealander broke the deadlock. He was in the right place to meet Àlex Moreno’s cross.

Espírito Santo’s men went close again through both Ryan Yates and Callum Hudson-Odoi. Thankfully though both the visiting defence and Fabiański were alert to the danger on this occasion.

The Irons really should have made sure that the scores were level going into the break. Lucas Paquetá was certain to beat home stopper Matz Sels, only for Wood to produce a magnificent last-ditch block.

In a crazy two-minute spell for Lopetegui’s men, Edson Álvarez was given two yellow cards making his team’s task harder as they were aiming to turn the game around. He will now miss next weekend’s game at home to Everton.

Referee Peter Bankes brought the first-half to a close and it looked as if West Ham’s bad record here would be stretched to three games.

As he did against Erik ten Hag’s men, Lopetegui turned to the bench and replaced both Summerville and Guido Rodríguez with Antonio and Soler.

The away team could have made a great start to the second-half, as they earnt three successive corners but unfortunately for them, they weren’t able to make anything of them.

Hudson-Odoi’s effort effectively ended West Ham’s chances of getting anything from this game on sixty five minutes. The former Chelsea man saw his attempt deflect off Mavropanos and go past Fabiański, giving the Pole very little chance of keeping the ball out.

The hosts had further chances to add to their advantage but fortunately, both Hudson-Odoi and former Fiorentina man Nikola Milenković couldn’t make the most of their opportunities.

Up the other end, Irons’skipper Jarrod Bowen and Antonio were both trying to reduce the deficit but the home side’s defence remained resilient.

On seventy eight minutes, Forest dug out another goal, as Ola Aina took possession from Todibo and fired a shot past Fabiański.

It may have been too late for him to make an impact on the game but Lopetegui’s reaction to the goal was to bring on Andy Irving in place of Emmerson Palmieri. At the same time, Espírito Santo threw on Taiwo Awoniyi.

There wasn’t to be a fourth goal, as Fabiański denied both Milenković, as well as Ramón Sosa, who had earlier come on as a substitute to replace Hudson-Odoi.

After that chance, the home fans thought the fourth had arrived but, having had the VAR go in their favour last weekend, like London buses, two come along at once, as it was ruled out for offside.

Having suffered back-to-back away defeats here, it now makes Saturday’s match with the Toffees even more crucial.