Dean Henderson saved a Declan Rice penalty as newly-promoted Nottingham Forest beat West Ham 1-0 to record their first Premier League win in 23 years.
The visitors thought they had opened the scoring shortly before the break but Said Benrahm’s goal was chalked off after a VAR review due to a foul in the build-up.
Just a few minutes later, Forest were ahead. Former Hammer Jesse Lingard saw his effort deflect off West Ham defender Ben Johnson, then Taiwan Awoniyi and into the net with Lukasz Fabianski wrong-footed.
Brennan Johnson thought he had doubled his side’s advantage early into the second half, dinking over the onrushing Fabianski. But VAR ruled the strike out for offside.
West Ham were handed a golden opportunity to restore parity from the spot after Scott McKenna blocked a goalbound shot with his arm in the box but Declan Rice’s tame penalty was saved by Henderson to secure the win.
Hammers goalkeeper Fabianski expressed his frustration at the result after the game.
He said: “We are very frustrated. We knew it was going to be tough. We were expecting a big battle and that was how it was from the first minute. They were better than us in the first half but second half we had much better chances.
“I probably had the worst view [of the disallowed goal] on the pitch. The boys were very disappointed. Michail Antonio said the defender blocked him rather than him pushing him away.
“Every goal you concede is frustrating. We got out-played in an area of the box. We were still trying to defend it but the clearance wasn’t ideal. It looked scrappy.
“I think we are very experienced in the Premier League. Sometimes you get punished for little things and maybe that is what happened today. We didn’t take our chances and let in a soft goal. In the first half Forest were more dominant than us.”
Meanwhile, Forest match-winner Awoniyi was filled with positivity for the season ahead after helping his side to their first win.
He said: “Iโm really happy about the goal โ it was a dream for me to score and for the team to win.
“As a striker, you just have to be ready for anything around the goal. It’s all about getting ready whether you are starting or coming on from the bench.
“We must say a very big thank you to the fans because from the beginning they got behind the team and you can see how it kept the team going until the last minute.
“I’m really happy about it because it took me a long journey to get back to the Premier League and I’m very, very proud of myself.
“The win will give more confidence to the team, it will keep us going for the next game. I believe we will have a great season as a team.”
Did you know?
West Ham have lost two of their last three games against promoted sides (W1). They only lost two of their previous 16 such matches (W10 D4).
Since his first game in charge of Forest in September 2021, only Pep Guardiola (28) and Jurgen Klopp (24) have won more league games in the top two tiers of English football (excluding play-offs) than Steve Cooper (23).
Awoniyi scored Forest’s first Premier League goal in 23 years and 90 days โ the longest gap between a team scoring consecutive goals in the competition’s history.
Rice has missed two of the three penalties he has taken in the Premier League.
West Ham’s last seven penalty misses have come via six different players: Manuel Lanzini, Andre Ayew, Lingard, Rice, Antonio and Mark Noble.
Henderson has saved two of the four penalties h haโs faced in the Premier League, also saving from Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus in January 2020.
At 25 years and 22 days, the average age of Forest’s starting line-up today was their youngest for a Premier League match since May 1993 against Ipswich Town (24y 250d), in Brian Clough’s 759th and final league game in charge of the club.
