'Frustrated' West Ham Fall Against Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest’s net lived a charmed life in the club’s home opener against West Ham.
The visitors missed from close range, watched in horror as two shots were cleared from the line, saw a strike chalked off following video review, wasted a penalty kick, and twice rattled the crossbar.
It was just one of those days when David Moyes was left wondering how the Hammers were shutout in a 1-0 loss at the City Ground.
“We’re really frustrated,” Moyes told reporters in Nottingham. “As I said in the press conference on Friday, we didn’t score many in pre-season. The first 20 minutes we were really poor, then we grew into the game. We didn’t deserve the result we got, that’s for sure, but we did in the end. Forest started well, they were powerful and put us under pressure.
“We made enough chances today and we didn’t take them. We might just take a bit of time to get up and running. We were better as the game went on but we’re still finding our way at the moment.”
Fuelled by the home crowd’s vocal support, Nottingham Forest pressed West Ham into oblivion during the opening exchanges. Steve Cooper’s team enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, shots, and chances before the water break, forcing Lukasz Fabianski into several important stops.
Then, on the stroke of half-time, Forest found their breakthrough, with Taiwo Awoniyi bouncing the ball into the back of the net.
“Today very little went for us and it was a good game for Nottingham Forest,” said Moyes. “They carried a bit of luck and we didn’t have much today. We have to blame ourselves. Maybe we could have scored three or four goals. But it wasn’t to be today.”
In fairness to the Scot, advanced statistics support his view: the Hammers produced more expected goals than Forest, even with Declan Rice’s botched 12-yard effort removed from the equation.
However, it is not the first time West Ham’s lack of final third cut and thrust has derailed their efforts.
Moyes accused his side of becoming “stale” at the end of last season and watched his players trudge through preseason with a series of uninspiring performances against Reading, Rangers, Luton Town, and RC Lens.
With that said, the 59-year-old started his major summer signings on the bench and waited until the 69th minute to make his first substitution. Considering the impact of Forest’s recent arrivals, it was a puzzling approach – made worse by meek displays by Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek.
Defeat at Nottingham Forest will be viewed as a miserable afternoon at the office for Moyes. If not for numerous interventions from Dean Henderson and his crossbar, the Hammers would have walked away with at least a point.
In the end, though, two contrasting factors defined the outcome. Forest converted their chances and were buoyed by summer arrivals. West Ham squandered their looks and left Gianluca Scamacca and Maxwel Cornet stapled to the bench for too long.
They must start next time.
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