Wonderful, blessed relief was the overriding emotion at the London Stadium as Nottingham Forest secured a win that took them seven points clear of the bottom three and a West Ham side managed by Nuno Espírito Santo.
After four consecutive defeats, what mattered most was finding a way to victory against the side immediately below them in the Premier League table, now led by Forest’s beleaguered former head coach. Morgan Gibbs-White’s late penalty gave them the result they craved after West Ham had taken the lead early in the first half and Nico Dominguez equalised shortly before the hour.
“It can’t always be beautiful, you have to find different ways of winning sometimes,” was the accurate assessment from Forest head coach Sean Dyche to reporters afterwards.
But with a crucial period approaching — including a difficult-looking FA Cup trip to a Wrexham side who are in the Premier League promotion picture, a visit from the league leaders Arsenal and a vital Europa League game at Portugal’s Braga — there is room for improvement.
With little time to enjoy last night’s success in east London before heading to north Wales for Friday’s third-round tie, The Athletic takes a look at where Dyche’s side can be better as they look to progress in two cups and fend off the threat of relegation from the top flight…
Isolated Igor Jesus needs greater support
There was a picture doing the rounds on social media of Forest striker Jesus trying to control a ball deep in West Ham territory during Tuesday’s first half.
In the image, the West Ham head coach Nuno was closer to Jesus — from his technical area on the edge of the pitch — than any Forest team-mate. Seven claret-and-blue home shirts were in frame, but nobody else in the visitors’ cream-coloured away one.
It was an exaggerated example of one of Forest’s biggest problems. It was to Jesus’ credit that 15 of his 20 passes in the opposition half last night were accurate, because too often he was left trying to control a long ball downfield, while looking for a colleague to help him out. In the first half, neither of the two Forest wingers, Callum Hudson-Odoi or Omari Hutchinson, offered him regular support.
Dilane Bakwa, on for Hutchinson at half-time, played a part in one positive moment early in the second half when he and Jesus exchanged passes to get Forest moving in a way that had not happened enough, and their play did improve as the game wore on.
Stop making silly individual mistakes
At the start of Dyche’s reign back in October, Forest seemed to cut out the errors that had been a feature under Nuno’s short-lived successor Ange Postecoglou. But here we are again.
West Ham’s goal came after Hutchinson tried some needlessly clever footwork in a dangerous area, allowing Ollie Scarles to nick the ball and force a corner. From that set piece, the unfortunate Murillo had little time to react as he deflected Tomas Soucek’s header into his own net.
It was more bad luck than an error from the Brazil defender but it was a corner Forest should not have been defending in the first place.
Soucek’s header deflects off Murillo and into the Forest goal to put West Ham ahead (Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)
At 22, Hutchinson is a young player still learning his trade, and he is also definitely not alone among the Forest squad when it comes to costly mistakes — Goalkeeper John Victor gifted Aston Villa a goal when he went walkabout at the weekend. Hutchinson was hooked at half-time by Dyche and you hope it is a hard lesson, learnt quickly.
They have made six errors that have led to goals this season, fourth most in the division behind last-placed Wolves (nine), Villa (seven) and second-bottom Burnley (seven). Four of those have come in their 13 matches under Dyche. They have also made 23 errors that have led to shooting chances, with only Tottenham (24) having a worse record in that metric.
It is clear this team need to find their collective focus again.
Forest need to be about more than just set pieces
Forest might not have matched the remarkable 52 crosses they mustered in the 2-o home defeat against Everton a week earlier, but there was one stat that stood out: Only five of the 28 balls delivered into the opposition box on Tuesday were successful. Without the physical presence of a forward such as the injured and absent Chris Wood, they do not have a focal point in attack.
The dynamic changes from set pieces, when the likes of Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic can come up from defence and add aerial power, and Forest’s goals last night came from Dominguez looping a header over goalkeeper Alphonse Areola from a corner and the latter conceding a penalty when attempting to punch a cross. But, in open play, their most promising opportunities came when they carried the ball into dangerous areas.
When Neco Williams, Forest’s best player, cut in from the left and progressed to the edge of the box, Areola had to produce a fine save to prevent him from finding the corner of the net. When Hudson-Odoi made a similar move, it was the crossbar that denied him.
Forest need to find more creativity and more inventiveness in the final third. The 27 big chances they have created in the 21 league games so far is below the divisional average of 31.35 — and way behind Manchester City’s Premier League-leading total of 57 (from one fewer match).
Rediscover some of their old spark
Dyche, with some justification, continues to point to the inexperience of players such as Jesus, Bakwa and Hutchinson in the English top flight. The two young wingers have both shown their naivety, as well as their potential. But nine of the starting XI at the London Stadium yesterday were key figures in the Forest squad who, this time last year, were third in the table, level on 40 points with second-placed Arsenal after 20 games.
Yes, Forest overachieved under Nuno in 2024-25 but at times last night it was like watching that side in standard definition rather than HD. They lack sharpness and clarity.
What matters more than anything is that Forest did get the job done, returning to winning ways. But this felt a little like the 2021-22 Championship play-off final against Huddersfield Town across the capital at Wembley — they were not at their best, but they did enough.
Again, there were two VAR decisions that the opposition might have felt were contentious, but both were correct. West Ham had a Crysencio Summerville goal ruled out for offside and an unusual, but justifiable, penalty decision went Forest’s way when Areola attempted to punch clear but instead clattered Gibbs-White.
Areola crashes into Gibbs-White, resulting in Forest’s penalty (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Perhaps last season’s push for Champions League football was a glitch in the matrix that may not be repeated for some time.
But there is still a core of players at Forest who have shown they are capable of providing far more quality and consistency than they have done lately.