2 days ago
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Just where would West Ham be without Jarrod Bowen? Five days on from confronting angry supporters after Graham Potter’s team succumbed to a third successive defeat, Bowen’s clever first-time finish gave West Ham a late lead at Nottingham Forest before goals from Lucas Paquetá and Callum Wilson ensured a first league victory of the season, Paquetá from the penalty spot after Crysencio Summerville was tripped in the box.
For Forest, in front of the watching owner Evangelos Marinakis, this was a dreadful performance and a pathetic – and untimely – collapse.
If discussions in the coming days dictate the future of Nuno Espírito Santo at Forest, then the international break will surely bring a little respite for Potter. Until Bowen’s intervention with six regular minutes to play, it appeared West Ham would take heart from a creditable clean sheet and avoiding the ignominy of a fourth straight loss.
Wilson impressed, forcing Matz Sels to tip over a deflected strike within a few minutes of replacing Niclas Füllkrug and the striker later tested the Forest goalkeeper again from an awkward angle after showing strength in the box.
But Bowen’s goal gave West Ham the leg-up that prompted Forest to crumble. West Ham’s first goal stemmed from a El Hadji Malick Diouf throw-in and ended up with an on-the-turn Bowen squeezing his shot in at Sels’s near post.
Bowen kissed the West Ham badge and slid on the turf. Paquetá, in the starting lineup after an inquiry from Aston Villa, went ballistic, losing his footing after booting one of the balls behind the goal as his teammates mobbed Bowen. Then it was Paquetá’s turn, the Brazil midfielder sending Sels the wrong way after Summerville was tripped by Ibrahim Sangaré, who had been a target for West Ham.
Things quickly spiralled for Forest, who struggled to test Mads Hermansen at the other end. Chris Wood sent a tame header at the West Ham goalkeeper a minute into the second half but it was a listless display.
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Nothing came off for Morgan Gibbs-White, and Elliot Anderson, such a consistent performer, was outfoxed in midfield. Wilson capped the scoring, glancing in Diouf’s cross unmarked after eluding Murillo. Those managerial talks with Marinakis promise to be interesting.
