Key stats
- Nottingham Forest have been beaten by three or more goals in a Premier League home game for the first time since February 1999 (8-1 loss to Manchester United).
- Since the start of April, no player has struck more goals (seven) or has been involved in more goals (10) than Jarrod Bowen.
- Lucas Paquetá has now scored all six of his penalties in the Premier League for West Ham, the club's best 100% success rate form the spot.
Highlights
Match report
Looking to open a PL season with successive home wins for the first time since 1984/85, Forest were on the front foot for much of the opening half, albeit without causing Mads Hermansen too many issues between the sticks.
In fact, the hosts fired just one off-target attempt in the first period, with the game’s first shot on target not arriving until the 39th minute when the potentially departing Lucas Paquetá made a strong connection with debutant Mateus Fernandes’ ball, forcing Mats Selz into a fine stop. That was the closest either side came to making a breakthrough before the interval, with chances very much at a premium.
A pair of quickfire opportunities got the second half up and running as Chris Wood tamely headed into Hermansen’s clutches, shortly before Jarrod Bowen cut back for Paqueta, who failed to wrap his foot around the ball at the near post.
There was a notable uplift in tempo as the rain began to pour at the City Ground, with a turnover deep in the Forest half leading to another smart stop as Sels kept out Niclas Füllkrug.
A goal was looking increasingly likely as the hour mark ticked by, and despite Forest largely dictating proceedings, it was West Ham who nearly went ahead when substitute Callum Wilson saw his deflected strike dealt with by Sels.
A richly entertaining second half eventually produced a breakthrough in the 84th minute when the Hammers got their reward through Bowen, who tucked home on the turn with a first-time shot.
There was yet more drama just four minutes later, with Paquetá netting from the spot after substitute Crysencio Summerville had been upended in the box by Ibrahim Sangaré. Any lingering doubts were firmly put to bed in stoppage time via Wilson, who nodded El Hadji Malick Diouf’s cross into the ground and beyond Sels for his first goal for West Ham.
Defeat puts an end to Forest’s run of three consecutive PL H2H triumphs, with a first clean sheet in 11 league games slipping through their fingers in the dying minutes. As for West Ham, a first goal in five top-flight visits to Nottingham sees them get off the mark in the PL, earning three points thanks to a much-improved performance that will delight travelling fans.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lucas Paquetá (West Ham United)
Analysis
Lucas Paquetá earned a Flashscore rating of 8.5 - largely thanks to an outstanding final 10 minutes for the Hammers and a dramatic late collapse from Nottingham Forest.
Nottingham Forest had more of the ball but were shocked by West Ham's forwards in the final moments of the game.
Post-match reaction
West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen tells Sky Sports: "It means everything. It's been a disappointing start to the season, but as I've said, it doesn't define our season. Just like today, we're going to enjoy it, but we don't get ahead of ourselves. So for us, we knew we could come here and do that.
"We had a feeling about us that the lads' application, the effort, every day in training. I see it every day. There are only so many times that you do the right things on the pitch and you get your due rewards. Today is the perfect example of that.
"We had a stat that we conceded 11 shots and conceded 11 goals. That shouldn't happen. When that happens, we have to look at ourselves and keep the ball out of the back of the net.
"Football is very simple: keep the ball out of your net and put it in the back of the other. That's what we did today."
West Ham striker Callum Wilson to Sky Sports: "Results determine the flak the manager has gotten, but he's been professional about it. He's been so professional about it.
"He's stuck with us, we've stuck with him. We've spoken about it internally... about if we keep doing the right things eventually, like today, we've got our rewards.
"The change of shape as well has probably given us a platform to go and attack, and today it's given us three goals."