West Ham United produced a superb late flourish to beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 and register their first Premier League win of the season.
The visitors scored three times in seven minutes at the City Ground to get off the mark in this campaign and relieve some of the pressure on head coach Graham Potter.
Jarrod Bowen broke the deadlock with a superb instinctive finish in the 84th minute, while a Lucas Paqueta penalty soon after gave West Ham breathing space.
Callum Wilson then rounded off a swift counter-attack in the first minute of stoppage time to score his first goal for the club and seal a welcome victory that lifts West Ham off the foot of the table.
They climb to 15th place on three points, one behind Nuno Espirito Santo’s side, who drop to ninth, having lacked a clinical edge throughout the contest.
How the match unfolded
The best - and only clear - opportunity of the first half came in the 39th minute when West Ham debutant Mateus Fernandes cut the ball back for Paqueta, whose first-time strike was brilliantly tipped over by Matz Sels.
Both sides went close early in the second period. Chris Wood headed Callum Hudson-Odoi's cross straight at Mads Hermansen, while Niclas Fullkrug’s drilled strike called Sels into action at the other end.
The Forest goalkeeper then had to be at his best once again to push away a deflected Wilson effort in the 68th minute.
However, he was powerless six minutes from time when the ball broke kindly on the edge of the area for Bowen, who whipped a superb first-time strike into the bottom-right corner.
Paqueta then coolly sent Sels the wrong way from 12 yards four minutes later after Ibrahim Sangare tripped the impressive substitute Crysencio Summerville, before Wilson put the icing on the cake by nodding home El Hadji Malick Diouf’s deep cross.
Forest hit with late sucker punches
With four points already on the board, Forest had the chance to potentially move top of the Premier League table – with a commanding victory and other results going their way.
They also had the opportunity to win their opening two home games in a Premier League season for the first time, and Nuno went with consistency by naming the same starting XI for the third match running.
Yet, despite bright spells from Dan Ndoye and Callum Hudson-Odoi down the flanks, Forest generally struggled to mount a strong attacking threat, with Hermansen rarely called into action, especially in the first half.
They were made to pay for that lack of a clinical edge. Sels had brilliantly kept them in the game with a couple of smart saves but could do nothing about Bowen’s superb bouncing strike.
The hosts were caught out on two more occasions as they tired. Summerville took advantage of that, drawing a foul from Sangare for the penalty that led to the second goal, while Wilson was completely unmarked to head in the third.
Nuno will seek a response when they travel to Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal after the international break.
The late, late show gets the Hammers up and running
The pressure was already on West Ham and Potter after back-to-back Premier League defeats, and an EFL Cup exit at the hands of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Therefore, the Hammers would not have been relishing a trip to the City Ground, a stadium where they have notoriously struggled in the past, though that was not clear on Sunday.
The visitors carried a decent attacking threat for large periods of the contest. New signing Mateus Fernandes was put straight into the starting XI and added pace to his new side’s midfield.
Summerville’s second-half introduction also proved an inspired substitution from Potter, as his pace culminated in an assist for Bowen just moments after entering the pitch, along with the awarding of the penalty that Paqueta tucked away.
The latter has been the subject of media reports linking him with a move to Aston Villa, but he demonstrated his passion to the travelling supporters by tapping the badge while celebrating.
West Ham were then sent into dreamland at the start of a lengthy stoppage time by Wilson, who then got in the way of Bowen adding a fourth after a mazy run through Forest’s defence.
Potter now has some much-needed relief heading into the international break, and when they return, they have a home double header against Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace to look forward to.
Club reports
Forest report | West Ham report
What the managers said
Nuno Espirito Santo: "There was no urgency. We were not able to create chances and there was a lack of mobility. We played how West Ham wanted us to play. We made mistakes that punished us. We will look internally so it doesn't happen again."
Graham Potter: "I have been a manager for 15 years, relatively competent sometimes but it's the players. It's their day today. They've carried out the sea in a really good way. We restricted Forest and carried a threat ourselves."
Next fixtures
Key facts
Nottingham Forest were beaten by 3+ goals in a Premier League home game for the first time since February 1999 (8-1 loss to Manchester United), while this was Nuno Espírito Santo’s heaviest home defeat in the competition since October 2021 (Tottenham Hotspur 0-3 Manchester United).
West Ham’s win was the second latest into a match that a team have gone 1-0 up in a Premier League game and ended up winning by 3+ goals (84th minute), after Manchester United v Everton in October 2002 (86th minute).
Since the start of April, West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen has been directly involved in more goals than any other player in the Premier League (10 – seven goals, three assists).