Awoniyi Scores As Forest Earn Their First EPL Victory Since 1999 Over West Ham

Awoniyi Scores As Forest Earn Their First EPL Victory Since 1999 Over West Ham. Nottingham Forest defeated West Ham 1-0 at the City Ground, with Taiwo Awoniyi scoring the game’s only goal.

The hosts got off to a flying start, forcing Lukasz Fabianski into a splendid save from Moussa Niakhate’s back-post header, while Awoniyi, making his first start for the club, nodded just wide.

The Hammers believed they had grabbed the advantage when Said Benrahma slid home, but the goal was disallowed after a VAR check because of a push on Orel Mangala in the build-up. Harry Toffolo’s last-ditch block prevented Tomas Soucek at the other end.

Awoniyi bundled home the opening goal two minutes later, giving Forest’s supporters the thrill they had waited 23 years for. In the second minute of additional time, the striker, who joined from Union Berlin over the summer, was there to deflect Jesse Lingard’s feeble attempt into the goal.

🌳 An impressive 3️⃣ points for @NFFC 🌳#NFOWHU pic.twitter.com/BwIubav9z3

— Premier League (@premierleague) August 14, 2022

The second half got off to a roaring start as Pablo Fornals hit the crossbar and Tomas Soucek had his rebound brilliantly saved by Henderson. Brennan Johnson then appeared to have extended Forest’s advantage but was caught offside after being set up by Mangala.

After Scott McKenna was correctly given a penalty for handling Soucek’s shot, West Ham missed from the penalty spot on minute 65, with Henderson diving low to his left to stop Rice. West Ham subsequently hit the crossbar with a free-kick from Benrahma.