Kalvin Phillips sent off as Nottingham Forest add to West Ham’s troubles
Kalvin Phillips had an unhappy afternoon in Nottingham (Mike Egerton/PA)
Nottingham Forest won for the first time in 2024 and boosted their Premier League survival chances with a 2-0 success over West Ham, who had Kalvin Phillips sent off.
Forest were teetering just two points above the drop zone after a run of four games without a victory, but goals in added time in either half from Taiwo Awoniyi and Callum Hudson-Odoi put that right against an out-of-sorts Hammers.
Awoniyi struck before the break with a fine finish while Hudson-Odoi converted from close range at the death to give themselves a bit of breathing space at the foot of the table.
They are far from out of danger, though, especially with a possible points deduction for breaking Premier League financial rules hanging over them, but this should boost their confidence.
The Hammers never really showed up at the City Ground and their top-six hopes took another hit, six days on from their home thrashing by Arsenal.
Phillips’ miserable personal season continued as he saw red for two quickfire yellow cards in the second half while David Moyes will come under renewed pressure with away fans displaying a banner asking for their manager to be sacked.
After last weekend’s hammering, Moyes would have been keen for a low-key start in their own penalty area, but they could have been behind after only four minutes.
Nuno Tavares advanced down the left and picked out Anthony Elanga, whose drilled first-time shot was kept out by the feet of Alphonse Areola.
The French goalkeeper continued to be the busiest as he produced strong hands to keep out Morgan Gibbs-White’s stinging effort and then did well to block Awoniyi as the striker tried to round him.
In between those two
Read on belfasttelegraph.co.uk
