Nottingham Forest stored their Champions League hopes very a lot alive as they survived a nervy end to say a 2-1 win at West Ham.
Forest suffered a serious setback final Sunday once they have been held 2-2 by relegated Leicester Metropolis in a recreation that noticed striker Taiwo Awoniyi endure a extreme belly damage.
They have been a lot improved at London Stadium, and took management as Morgan Gibbs-White pounced on an early mistake from Alphonse Areola and Nikola Milenkovic glanced in from a free-kick.
However a surprising Jarrod Bowen volley gave West Ham hope of a comeback, and Forest needed to survive over 17 minutes of added time earlier than they might rejoice transferring degree on factors with sixth-placed Manchester Metropolis and some extent behind Aston Villa within the race for the highest 5.
West Ham v Nottingham Forest
A frenetic begin to the match noticed Matz Sels flip over the crossbar from a Tomas Soucek header within the second minute earlier than Morgan Gibbs-White was denied by Areola.
Vladimir Coufal a deflected effort stored out by Sels as West Ham continued to indicate early attacking promise however, after Areola had thwarted Chris Wooden on the different finish, the French goalkeeper introduced Forest with a present that undid the hosts’ good work within the opening exchanges.
Areola’s try and play out from the again proved a dreadful resolution, his go going straight to Gibbs-White, who made no mistake with a assured end.
Gibbs-White ran to the nook flag and lifted up Awoniyi’s jersey in a tribute to his recovering colleague, and Forest’s lead would have been doubled had Areola not turned a close-range Wooden header onto the submit.
West Ham remained a sporadic attacking menace regardless of the malaise that appeared to envelop the stadium following the opening objective, Mohamed Kudus nearly bringing life again to the house crowd when he powered a header extensive.
Forest obtained a lift to start out the second half when Murillo emerged for the restart, his day having beforehand over when he was helped off by the medical workers at half-time.
They usually put themselves in command simply after the hour when Milenkovic diverted Anthony Elanga’s in-swinging supply into the web with the highest of his shoulder, the objective confirmed following a VAR verify that took over six minutes.
Forest didn’t fairly kill off the sport, although, Carlos Soler denied by Sels and Luis Guilherme seeing a seemingly goal-bound effort blocked.
Nonetheless, it seemed as if Forest would coast to victory, just for Bowen to fray the nerves in spectacular vogue as he managed Milenkovic’s poor defensive header along with his heel after which lashed an unstoppable volley past Sels.
That left Forest to carry on for a outstanding quantity of stoppage time, and there was nearly a sting within the tail when Sels repelled Niclas Fullkrug’s header.
Forest ultimately cleared earlier than a protracted fracas between the edges meant the clock surpassed 117 minutes, however the guests have been in a position to rejoice when it was lastly stopped.
