West Ham 3-2 Nottingham Forest: Tomas Soucek winner sees David Moyes’ Hammers to first Premier League win since September 30

Tomas Soucek struck a late winner as West Ham fought back from 2-1 down to beat Nottingham Forest 3-2 in a thriller at the London Stadium.

Both of West Ham’s late goals were created by a James Ward-Prowse corner.

Lucas Paqueta had put the Hammers – who had won just one of their previous seven Premier League outings – in front inside three minutes after a glaring error from Nicolas Dominguez, but the teams went in level at the break after Taiwo Awoniyi tapped in when Morgan Gibbs-White’s shot was saved.

Anthony Elanga’s goal turned the game in Forest’s favour for the first time after just over an hour, but West Ham hit back when Jarrod Bowen headed home Ward-Prowse’s pinpoint corner to set up a tense finale.

It was Soucek who had the final say. After stretching to divert a cross onto the bar, the Czech midfielder won the game when he leapt to meet another Ward-Prowse corner and planted a header beyond Odysseas Vlachodimos.

West Ham move up to ninth after taking the points, while Nottingham Forest stay down in 15th.

How West Ham triumphed in thriller

Before the game had even got anywhere near settling into a rhythm, Forest put themselves on the backfoot. Dominguez inexplicably put his pass into the back of team-mate Ibrahim Sangare, with the ball ricocheting into the path of Paqueta, who stayed alert and arrowed into the bottom-right corner.

On another day, an onslaught might have followed, but the visitors responded reasonably well and might have pulled level had it not been for Alphonse Areola, who gloriously clawed away Awoniyi’s header.

Noise inside the London Stadium rose significantly each time the Hammers embarked on a breakaway, but for the most part, they flattered to deceive – and so Forest levelled just before the break. Morgan Gibbs-White advanced at pace and tried a shot, which was parried by Areola, with Awoniyi on hand to sweep the loose ball into the net.

The second half started in the manner of a basketball match; Awoniyi dragged a shot wide after exchanging passes with Elanga three times, while Ward-Prowse sent a trademark free-kick dipping just an inch or two over the bar.

It was Forest who struck next to complete the turnaround. Sangare strode forward and found Ola Aina, who picked out the unmarked Elanga, who slotted home – and even removed his GPS vest amid impassioned celebrations.

But the lead lasted all of 43 seconds following the restart. Ward-Prowse delivered a corner from the left, with Bowen peeling away from Danilo and heading home the equaliser.

From there, West Ham were never going to falter. Soucek stretched to get on the end of a poor attempted clearance from Aina and rattled the woodwork with the goal gaping, but he did get his moment with two minutes remaining, when he too met a Ward-Prowse delivery to send a feeling of relief and eurporia around the stadium.

What’s next?

After the international break, West Ham are back in action on Saturday November 25. They travel to Burnley; kick-off 3pm.

Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest also play on Saturday November 25 when they host Brighton; kick-off 3pm.