There may be some ironies when the Nottingham Forest The fans join together to sing “Let's win the league”, but it shows how well things are going at the City Ground.
Victory over West Ham means Forest has won three in a row first division games for the first time in more than a quarter of a century and put them in third place in the table.
It doesn't seem to matter that the coach, Nuno Espírito Santo, is prohibited from accessing the sideline and that the owner, Evangelos Marinakis, cannot even enter the stadium. Forest has the second best defense in the league, having conceded seven goals, and a prolific forward like Chris Wood, who together with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ola Aina settled the game against a West Ham team that had to play for more than half an hour. with 10 men after Edson Álvarez was fired for the second time this season.
“We have to work and work hard and even improve much more,” Nuno said. “Nothing has changed since the beginning. We have to move on, move on, move on. Believe me, there is no other way. If you get distracted, football doesn't forgive you.”
The first quarter was uneventful, but it was clear that Forest were the better team. Their speed of thought and movement was far superior to that of the visitors and the first goal was deserved when Álex Moreno made a smart run beyond the defense and collected a pass from Nicolás Domínguez before giving it to Wood, who headed in from six yards . Even though West Ham played with three centre-backs, no one took responsibility for marking the forward who has eight goals in 10 games.
West Ham's forgettable first half was summed up in injury time: after failing to get a shot on target in the first 45 minutes, Lucas Paquetá saw his attempt from the edge of the area cleared by Wood. “Did you see that? Wow,” said Nuño. “There is no better example. Wow. You can't thank them enough. It's been huge for us, huge. I hope it continues. The way he leads, the example, the voice, the trust that his teammates have in him.”
Forest cleared the resulting corner and broke down the right through Anthony Elanga, whose run was cut short by a late challenge by Alvarez, who received his second booking, sealing West Ham's fate. The Mexican then wandered down the touchline and past the tunnel, much to the amusement of the home fans, until he was finally forced to sheepishly return for a few more seconds of incitement.
“We didn't deserve to win or draw the game,” said Julen Lopetegui. “He (Álvarez) knows that he needs to improve his decision-making but I am the coach, I am responsible for all of them. We have to take advantage of this bad moment to push ourselves forward and face the next challenge. We have to be better and more consistent.”
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This is not just the story of a strong starting eleven, there is quality throughout the Forest team. When they wanted to add freshness, Jota Silva and Elliot Anderson were sent on to increase the pressure on a tired West Ham side, who managed one shot on target throughout the match. Within seconds, Anderson had tricked Jean-Clair Todibo to win a free kick on the edge of the area. The former Newcastle man took it short to Hudson-Odoi, who performed his trademark trick of spinning the ball from the left side of the box into the far corner.
If the home fans thought things couldn't get any better, they were pleasantly surprised when Aina attacked from the right and managed to hit a bouncing ball into the top corner from 20 yards. The Nigerian arrived on a free transfer in the summer of 2023 and has played all over the pitch but, like all those dressed in red, he seems incredibly comfortable in Nuno's frame.
Forest remained ahead on the final day of last season and has already surpassed half of the points total it earned in 2023-24. The forest is in dreamland and no one wanted to leave at the end amidst the noise of the celebratory fireworks outside. It may not last forever, but everyone on this side of the Trento rightly enjoys every moment.
