Nottingham Forest 1-0 West Ham United: Taiwo Awoniyi earns Forest first Premier League win in 23 years
Nottingham Forest #NottinghamForest
Taiwo Awoniyi scored Forest’s first Premier League goal since May 1999 when Chris Bart-Williams netted against Leicester
Nottingham Forest secured a famous win as Taiwo Awoniyi scored the only goal to beat West Ham as Premier League football returned to the City Ground after a 23-year absence.
Awoniyi, Forest’s £17m record signing this summer, applied the first-time finish after Jesse Lingard’s effort had been deflected into his path off Hammers defender Ben Johnson.
Goalkeeper Dean Henderson was Forest’s other hero, denying Declan Rice with a second-half penalty save.
The Hammers could also reflect on two strikes from distance that hit the crossbar and another excellent Henderson save from Tomas Soucek as they started the season with successive defeats.
However, for Forest and their boss Steve Cooper, it was another unforgettable day for a club who were bottom of the Championship less than 12 months ago.
Spurred on by a frenzied home crowd, Forest started on the front foot and had enough to keep West Ham at bay even after their energetic early efforts started to slow.
A famous Forest win
If there was an element of Forest not quite being ready for their top-flight return, given negotiations around a new kit sponsor are still to reach a conclusion and the most recent of their 14 summer signings – £20m forward Emmanuel Dennis and free-transfer arrival Cheikhou Kouyate – were not available, the same was not true of their fans.
For hours before kick-off, they thronged the streets around the City Ground and the noise they made when the home players emerged for their warm-up was only a foretaste of the spine-tingling reception when they emerged from the tunnel for real.
Forest responded by tearing into their opponents at a furious pace. Moussa Niakhate and Awoniyi both threatened with headers, while Neco Williams drew a decent save from Lukasz Fabianski, who also had to palm away a goal-bound header from team-mate Soucek.
The backing kept Forest going on a blisteringly hot day – and the reward came in first-half stoppage time.
Awoniyi spent six years as a Liverpool player without making a single first-team appearance, before moving to Union Berlin in 2021 and then, a year later, to Forest.
As with a number of the club’s summer recruits, Awoniyi has a point to prove. His finish was reactive, but he needed to be in the right place at the right time – and his name will now go into Forest folklore along with all the other great names associated with the two-time European Cup winners.
Henderson is another who wants to show how good he is. The on-loan Manchester United man produced a superb save at the start of the second half when Soucek was first to the loose ball after Pablo Fornals’ strike bounced off the bar.
Declan Rice has now missed two of the three penalties he has taken in the Premier League
His best moment was still to come though. With England coach Gareth Southgate watching on from the directors’ box and coming 24 hours after United keeper David de Gea’s nightmare at Brentford, it could not have come on a better day as he went to his right to repel Rice’s spot-kick after Scott McKenna’s handball.
Forest thought they had a second through Brennan Johnson but it was ruled out for offside after a VAR intervention.
It didn’t matter in the end, although there was one negative in the injury Niakhate picked up before the end.
Player of the match
N WilliamsNeco Williams
Nottingham Forest
Squad number7Player nameN Williams
Squad number1Player nameHenderson
Squad number9Player nameAwoniyi
Squad number14Player nameO’Brien
Squad number15Player nameToffolo
Squad number26Player nameMcKenna
Squad number20Player nameJohnson
Squad number19Player nameNiakhaté
Squad number5Player nameMangala
Squad number4Player nameWorrall
Squad number3Player nameS Cook
Squad number16Player nameSurridge
Squad number11Player nameLingard
Squad number18Player nameCafú
West Ham United
Squad number22Player nameBenrahma
Squad number1Player nameFabianski
Squad number8Player nameFornals
Squad number3Player nameCresswell
Squad number28Player nameSoucek
Squad number9Player nameAntonio
Squad number5Player nameCoufal
Squad number20Player nameBowen
Squad number2Player nameJohnson
Squad number7Player nameScamacca
Squad number10Player nameLanzini
Squad number14Player nameCornet
Squad number4Player nameZouma
Squad number41Player nameRice
Line-ups Nottm Forest
Formation 3-4-1-2
1Henderson
4Worrall19Niakhaté26McKenna
7N Williams5Mangala14O’Brien15Toffolo
11Lingard
20Johnson9Awoniyi
Substitutes
West Ham
Formation 4-2-3-1
1Fabianski
5Coufal4Zouma2Johnson3Cresswell
28Soucek41Rice
20Bowen22Benrahma8Fornals
9Antonio
Substitutes
Live Text
Match ends, Nottingham Forest 1, West Ham United 0.
90’+9′
Second Half ends, Nottingham Forest 1, West Ham United 0.
90’+8′
Sam Surridge (Nottingham Forest) is shown the yellow card.
90’+8′
Brennan Johnson (Nottingham Forest) is shown the yellow card.
90’+7′
Foul by Vladimír Coufal (West Ham United).
90’+7′
Sam Surridge (Nottingham Forest) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
90′
Attempt missed. Tomás Soucek (West Ham United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Aaron Cresswell with a cross following a corner.
89′
Corner, West Ham United. Conceded by Joe Worrall.
89′
Attempt blocked. Manuel Lanzini (West Ham United) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Saïd Benrahma.
85′
Substitution, West Ham United. Maxwel Cornet replaces Jarrod Bowen.
84′
Substitution, Nottingham Forest. Cafú replaces Orel Mangala.
84′
Foul by Gianluca Scamacca (West Ham United).
84′
Joe Worrall (Nottingham Forest) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
83′
Corner, West Ham United. Conceded by Steve Cook.
83′
Attempt blocked. Kurt Zouma (West Ham United) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Aaron Cresswell with a cross.
82′
Corner, West Ham United. Conceded by Neco Williams.
80′
Corner, Nottingham Forest. Conceded by Ben Johnson.
79′
Substitution, Nottingham Forest. Steve Cook replaces Moussa Niakhaté because of an injury.
75′
Attempt blocked. Gianluca Scamacca (West Ham United) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Aaron Cresswell.
75′
Dean Henderson (Nottingham Forest) is shown the yellow card.
