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 after they had been held 2-2 by relegated Leicester Metropolis in a sport that noticed striker Taiwo Awoniyi endure a extreme stomach damage.
They had 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 may have a good time shifting stage 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 offered Forest with a present that undid the hosts’ good work within the opening exchanges.
Areola’s try to play out from the again proved a dreadful determination, his move 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 put up.
West Ham remained a sporadic attacking risk regardless of the malaise that appeared to envelop the stadium following the opening purpose, Mohamed Kudus virtually bringing life again to the house crowd when he powered a header broad.
Forest obtained a lift to start out the second half when Murillo emerged for the restart, his day having beforehand appeared to be over when he was helped off by the medical employees at half-time.
And so they 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 purpose confirmed following a VAR examine 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 appeared as if Forest would coast to victory, just for Bowen to fray the nerves in spectacular style as he managed Milenkovic’s poor defensive header together 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 virtually a sting within the tail when Sels repelled Niclas Fullkrug’s header.
Forest finally cleared earlier than a protracted fracas between the perimeters meant the clock surpassed 117 minutes, however the guests had been in a position to have a good time when it was lastly stopped.
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