Nottingham Forest 2-0 West Ham: Taiwo Awoniyi adds to Hammers’ woes

Nottingham Forest climbed five points clear of the Premier League relegation zone and added to the pressure on West Ham United manager David Moyes with a deserved victory at the City Ground.

On-loan midfielder Kalvin Phillips was shown two yellow cards in three minutes midway through the second half as he had another game to forget for West Ham.

Forest move up to 15th while Moyes’ side’s failure to bounce back from the 6-0 defeat against Arsenal last Sunday means they stay eighth.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side went into the game on the back of six defeats in their last seven home matches but took advantage of the opportunity to face a West Ham side chastened by last weekend’s thrashing.

Striker Michail Antonio started for the first time since the middle of November but the Hammers struggled to create any clear-cut chances.

After Phillips’ dismissal, Forest pushed for a second goal and were denied what they thought was a penalty when Maxwel Cornet stood on the ankle of Neco Williams.

Referee Tom Bramall spared Alphonse Areola’s blushes in the 90th minute after he let Danilo’s powerful effort squirm over the line – but Ryan Yates was judged to be offside.

Under-pressure Moyes defends record

West Ham won the Europa Conference League last season, their first European trophy for 43 years.

They have also finished sixth and seventh in the Premier League and reached the Europa League semi-finals under Moyes.

However, the London Stadium was half empty at half-time last Sunday as Arsenal went into the break with a 4-0 lead – with two more goals still to come.

West Ham fans travelled to Forest hoping for a response, but it was tame at best and a “Moyes Out” banner could be seen from the away end.

“I am pretty long in the tooth,” Moyes said. “You can never please everybody. It would be hard to say there have been many better times at West Ham.

“Maybe they want something different. Maybe there would be managers who excite them more, but the one who is sitting here wins more.

“My response would be to say we are hurting really badly as a team and a manager because we have not had good results for five or six weeks.

“This year already we have beaten Tottenham, Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal. We must not forget there were good times not so long ago.

“We’re sitting in a strong position – last season we were sitting near the bottom.

“It was only three years ago that we were Nottingham Forest and fighting relegation. We’ve moved on a long way from there.”

Lucas Paqueta’s absence is a significant blow, but West Ham fans will point to a squad that are among the strongest the club have had.

Moyes knows the home game against Brentford is one he dare not lose.

Hudson-Odoi hits purple patch

Hudson-Odoi made his Chelsea debut in 2017 and was soon regarded as one of the Premier League’s most exciting prospects – with Bayern Munich’s interest in him proof of the potential he had shown.

A full England debut followed against Montenegro in March 2019 but an Achilles tendon injury the following month stalled his progress.

The 23-year-old has not been a fixture in the Forest side since his transfer in the summer but his goal against West Ham was his third in consecutive games to suggest the forward is enjoying life under new Forest manager Nuno.

Along with the powerful Awoniyi and gifted playmaker Gibbs-White, Forest will have a fine attacking trio that is the envy of the bottom half of the table if Hudson-Odoi maintains this kind of form.

Awoniyi was withdrawn with injury and if he is missing for any length of time, Forest will look to goals from the in-form Hudson-Odoi to ensure their top-flight status.