Premier League
Nottm ForestNottingham Forest1West HamWest Ham United0

Nottingham Forest 1-0 West Ham United: Declan Rice penalty saved as Forest hold on to beat Hammers

By Simon StoneBBC Sport at the City Ground
Nottingham Forest celebrate.
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

Forest deserved win over West Ham - Cooper

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.

Dean Henderson saves Declan Rice's penalty.
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 centre-back Niakhate picked up before the end.

West Ham fail awkward test

Moyes 'can't accept' way West Ham defended for goal

This would have been an awkward assignment for West Ham anyway given the atmosphere they were bound to encounter.

But they hardly helped themselves.

With penalty expert Mark Noble retiring, Rice has taken that responsibility as well as the captain's armband.

However, his spot-kick was poor and lacked the accuracy to take it beyond Henderson's reach.

Rice had earlier set Said Benrahma up with a superb defence-splitting pass, only for the goal to be ruled out because Michail Antonio - given a standing ovation from the home fans when he was substituted in recognition of the season he spent as a Forest player - had barged over Orel Mangala in the build-up.

Benrahma also hit the bar with another superb effort, while Soucek was denied as Harry Toffolo made a dramatic clearance off the line.

With £30.5m striker Gianluca Scamacca unable to make an impact after replacing Antonio, West Ham find themselves without a point after two games and plenty of work ahead of them if they are to match the last two seasons' top-seven finishes.

Player of the match

N WilliamsNeco Williams

with an average of 8.04

Nottingham Forest

  1. Squad number7Player nameN Williams
    Average rating

    8.04

  2. Squad number1Player nameHenderson
    Average rating

    7.89

  3. Squad number9Player nameAwoniyi
    Average rating

    7.83

  4. Squad number14Player nameO'Brien
    Average rating

    7.83

  5. Squad number15Player nameToffolo
    Average rating

    7.53

  6. Squad number26Player nameMcKenna
    Average rating

    7.40

  7. Squad number20Player nameJohnson
    Average rating

    7.32

  8. Squad number19Player nameNiakhaté
    Average rating

    7.31

  9. Squad number5Player nameMangala
    Average rating

    7.25

  10. Squad number4Player nameWorrall
    Average rating

    7.23

  11. Squad number3Player nameS Cook
    Average rating

    6.93

  12. Squad number16Player nameSurridge
    Average rating

    6.81

  13. Squad number11Player nameLingard
    Average rating

    6.70

  14. Squad number18Player nameCafú
    Average rating

    6.65

West Ham United

  1. Squad number22Player nameBenrahma
    Average rating

    6.23

  2. Squad number1Player nameFabianski
    Average rating

    5.81

  3. Squad number8Player nameFornals
    Average rating

    5.27

  4. Squad number3Player nameCresswell
    Average rating

    5.06

  5. Squad number28Player nameSoucek
    Average rating

    5.05

  6. Squad number9Player nameAntonio
    Average rating

    5.02

  7. Squad number5Player nameCoufal
    Average rating

    4.81

  8. Squad number20Player nameBowen
    Average rating

    4.76

  9. Squad number2Player nameJohnson
    Average rating

    4.73

  10. Squad number7Player nameScamacca
    Average rating

    4.72

  11. Squad number10Player nameLanzini
    Average rating

    4.67

  12. Squad number14Player nameCornet
    Average rating

    4.61

  13. Squad number4Player nameZouma
    Average rating

    4.50

  14. Squad number41Player nameRice
    Average rating

    4.31

Line-ups

Nottm Forest

Formation 3-4-1-2

  • 1HendersonBooked at 75mins
  • 4Worrall
  • 19NiakhatéSubstituted forS Cookat 79'minutes
  • 26McKennaBooked at 64mins
  • 7N Williams
  • 5MangalaSubstituted forRibeiro Diasat 84'minutes
  • 14O'Brien
  • 15Toffolo
  • 11Lingard
  • 20JohnsonBooked at 90mins
  • 9AwoniyiSubstituted forSurridgeat 72'minutesBooked at 90mins

Substitutes

  • 2Biancone
  • 3S Cook
  • 6Mbe Soh
  • 13Hennessey
  • 16Surridge
  • 17Mighten
  • 18Ribeiro Dias
  • 33Taylor
  • 41Hammond

West Ham

Formation 4-3-3

  • 1Fabianski
  • 5Coufal
  • 4Zouma
  • 2Johnson
  • 3Cresswell
  • 28Soucek
  • 41RiceBooked at 9mins
  • 8FornalsSubstituted forLanziniat 68'minutes
  • 20BowenSubstituted forCornetat 85'minutes
  • 9AntonioSubstituted forScamaccaat 68'minutes
  • 22Benrahma

Substitutes

  • 7Scamacca
  • 10Lanzini
  • 12Downes
  • 13Areola
  • 14Cornet
  • 32Coventry
  • 35Randolph
  • 50Ashby
Referee:
Robert Jones
Attendance:
29,281

Match Stats

Home TeamNottm ForestAway TeamWest Ham
Possession
Home43%
Away57%
Shots
Home13
Away19
Shots on Target
Home6
Away5
Corners
Home6
Away7
Fouls
Home10
Away11

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Nottingham Forest 1, West Ham United 0.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Nottingham Forest 1, West Ham United 0.

  3. Booking

    Sam Surridge (Nottingham Forest) is shown the yellow card.

  4. Booking

    Brennan Johnson (Nottingham Forest) is shown the yellow card.

  5. Post update

    Foul by Vladimír Coufal (West Ham United).

  6. Post update

    Sam Surridge (Nottingham Forest) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  7. Post update

    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.

  8. Post update

    Corner, West Ham United. Conceded by Joe Worrall.

  9. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Manuel Lanzini (West Ham United) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Saïd Benrahma.

  10. Substitution

    Substitution, West Ham United. Maxwel Cornet replaces Jarrod Bowen.

  11. Substitution

    Substitution, Nottingham Forest. Cafú replaces Orel Mangala.

  12. Post update

    Foul by Gianluca Scamacca (West Ham United).

  13. Post update

    Joe Worrall (Nottingham Forest) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  14. Post update

    Corner, West Ham United. Conceded by Steve Cook.

  15. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Kurt Zouma (West Ham United) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Aaron Cresswell with a cross.

  16. Post update

    Corner, West Ham United. Conceded by Neco Williams.

  17. Post update

    Corner, Nottingham Forest. Conceded by Ben Johnson.

  18. Substitution

    Substitution, Nottingham Forest. Steve Cook replaces Moussa Niakhaté because of an injury.

  19. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Gianluca Scamacca (West Ham United) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Aaron Cresswell.

  20. Booking

    Dean Henderson (Nottingham Forest) is shown the yellow card.

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