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Premier League
West Ham United 1-2 Nottingham Forest 

Tuesday, 6th January 2026
by Chris Wilkerson | Forum match thread

With everything on the line, West Ham came up short once more, throwing away a lead to leave this relegation six-pointer with defeat, losing 2-1 to Nottingham Forest at the London Stadium.

In a game short on quality, the decisions of the officials were the deciding factor, a second West Ham goal to take them to 2-0 ruled out with a questionable offside call, before a penalty was given to the away side with minutes remaining that VAR intervened in.




Both calls went against the Hammers, and Forest took away all three points to turn what could have been a one-point deficit without the calls of the referee, and instead sees Dyche's side move seven points clear of West Ham in 18th.

It was a performance that showed the effort and fight so lacking at Wolves on the weekend, but the points were lost once more. It felt inevitable, luck has deserted this team all season, and they look unable to manage games through to victory. Eventually, they will crumble, and whether it's bad defending, poor goalkeeping, or refereeing decisions that never fall their way, it doesn't matter: West Ham cannot win games.

There were four changes from the embarrassing defeat at Wolves. Todibo, Soucek, Paqueta and a debut for Castellanos as Kilman, Magassa, Potts and Wilson all made way.

The side found energy. Castellanos up front had some bite and some pace, and quickly won over the West Ham fans with his hard work as he led the line with energy. An early shoulder barge knocked down a centre back and, finally, West Ham had a striker who could leave a physical impression on opposing centre backs.

The striker might have done better with an early opening, Summerville breaking and carrying upfield before slipping it to the Argentine, but he delayed his initial shot and found a defender in his way by the time he released.

A few minutes later, wonders never ceased as Summerville got space outside the box and actually took on a shot quickly, rather than looking for the pass. It was right at Sels, but at least he'd tried it.

Those early moments were not reflective of a half that was mostly dominated by the away side. The Hammers looked keen to counter attack and then sit back, and Forest were comfortable in controlling the majority of possession.

A key threat was their width. Forest appeared to be targeting Scarles at left back, but the young defender stood up to his task well, with Todibo key in supporting him and clearing up anything that did make it through.

But it was from the other side that they nearly took the lead. Callum Hudson-Odoi, the type of player West Ham never pick up when going cheap, received a ball on the left laid it back to the corner of the box for Neco Williams.

The full back cut in onto his right foot and curled at goal, trying to bend one into the top corner at the far post. It was a lovely hit, and only the fingertips of Areola at full stretch were enough to stop it. It was a wonderful save.




The away side were growing into things and taking hold of it, but as this game ended, West Ham and Nottingham Forest were the two teams to have conceded most from corners this season. And it was Nuno's side who profited first.

Summerville curled in a corner to the near post, and the deftest of flicks from Soucek was all it took to move the ball away from where Murillo had expected it to go.

That little diversion meant the defender, who had committed to a header, had now misjudged the flight. Instead of heading it away from goal, it cannoned off his head and flew into his own net. To the delight of the sparse West Ham crowd, the home side had a precious 1-0 lead just a minute shy of 15 minutes gone.

Forest came back well, but you could see an improvement in West Ham in just having a striker willing to work hard and make runs at pace. If only they'd managed to attack more whilst energy and belief was still in this team.

The half stayed in a rhythm of Forest dominating possession and territory whilst West Ham looked like they could be dangerous on the break. As half-time came near, Dyche's side came incredibly close to levelling things.

This time when Hudson-Odoi gathered possession on the left, it was the winger who got the shot away. Pushing inside, he created space to curl at goal, much like Williams in his effort. This one had Areola beaten, and any goalkeeper would have been, too, but it just couldn't dip quite enough, smacking the top of the bar and bouncing over.

The Hammers had kept their lead until the break, and now the visitors really would have to chase the game. Dyche replaced one winger with another as his side came out for the second 45, Bakwa taking the place of Hutchinson, but it was West Ham who thought they'd got the big second goal of the game. And they should have.

Summerville led a counter, driving up the pitch. As he got to the edge of the box, he was tackled by Milenkovic. Castellanos retrieved and fired it across the pitch to Walker-Peters, who controlled it into the area and took on a shot.

It was blocked, but popped up to Summerville just inside the box. The Dutchman controlled on his chest and fired in a low drive that rifled into the bottom corner and appeared to have doubled the West Ham lead. But VAR felt otherwise. By whatever spurious reasoning they concluded upon, their decision was that Castellanos was offside when taking control.




The lines certainly showed that, but the challenge had been made by Milenkovic. It hadn't come back off Summerville, but they deemed the defender's challenge an unintentional action, meaning - somehow - that Summerville had made a pass to the player, even though he hadn't done anything of the sort. The defender made a tackle, and that tackle played it to the West Ham debutant.

It will be no surprise that Forest equalised less than five minutes later. It was their turn to score from a corner. A ball to the near post was flicked on by Dominguez, and it looped to the far post, and looped over the head of Walker-Peters, who stepped off the post anyway and couldn't jump high enough to clear. He'd have done so if he'd stayed where he should have.

A desperate Nuno turned to his bench. On for his debut came Pablo, surprisingly replacing Paqueta as the Brazilian struggled with his back injury. This put the new striker into the 10 role. Mayers replaced Scarles, and again performed with composure that belied his age.

The new boy was active and made a bit of difference, but also looked rough around the edges, his touch and his turns looking lacking in the technique of others. Half a chance in the box came and went as he smashed his effort high and wide.

In a game that could suddenly turn from contained and controlled to incredibly open and erratic, both teams looked for a winner.

Nuno had gambled on an extra body up front, and West Ham managed to threaten more whilst completely losing their midfield, made worse when Fernandes was forced off with an injury. Potts and Soucek struggled to compete with Dominguez, Gibbs-White and Anderson.

Still, Walker-Peters nearly forced a goal, driving forward to collect a clearance, exchanging a pass with Pablo, but firing right at Sels from an angle. Castellanos tried to pounce on the rebound, but his effort was right at the goalkeeper, too.

What looked like West Ham's big late chance came to the man you'd think it needed to go to, but Jarrod Bowen is not anywhere near his capacity at the moment. Instead, when Mayers intercepted a pass with a first-time ball that played his captain in beautifully, Bowen took a touch too many in the box, allowing Murillo to get back at him.

Bowen had another poor game, and he's playing himself not only into relegation, but also surely out the England picture as West Ham fans may start to realise that this is not a player capable of making a big impression on the bigger platforms better players find at clubs chasing the top honours. Awful at Wolves, having missed a sitter against Fulham, the captain looks done with this club.




He scuffed a volley wide a minute later, but it was not West Ham who would find the pressure to break their opponents.

Not that Forest did anything to earn their winner. A referee who would missed blatant fouls on Summerville before the away side went up the other end gave the visitors a foul for a minor flick on the heel, something he had ignored at the other end.

The cross was curled in, and Soucek rose to head away. Behind him, Areola was coming to push it away, and his hands dangled in the air as his forward momentum brought him into a clash with Gibbs-White, who had jumped at goal to try head the ball.

There was no cries of outrage, but when the ball went off, VAR stopped play. What they had seen was Areola's hands colliding with the head of Gibbs-White, and they decided the goalkeeper had fouled him.

Many saw penalty. What confuses others is what exactly Areola did wrong, and how it was necessarily deemed his fault. The attacker was going for a ball he didn't get, but there are no suggestions he drove his head into Areola's hands. But he did, if by the same token Areola hit his opponent with his palms.

Both challenged with legitimate parts of their body for a ball they didn't get. Both went forward into where the other was.

More importantly, the ball had been cleared. We cannot know that Areola wouldn't have got their first. And now Forest were given a 90% chance of scoring for an incident in which they had 0% chance before.

The one blessing of watching this penalty be rolled in to steal the three points was that at least The Championship isn't cursed by the incompetence of VAR, a system that searches for breaches and technicalities to re-referee games of football. It was hoped to be a system that would improve officiating, but poor referees are now watching videos and making more poor decisions.

The Hammers had nothing left, and throwing the ball forward was as fruitless here as it was against Fulham.

Start the car, we're off to Wrexham.




Manager's Rating

Nuno Espirito Santo: 5/10 Can't work out a way to manage his players to victory. Pablo in a midfield role didn't work, and basically playing four attackers was desperate and lacked any semblance of tactics, more vibes and hopes. It's either his payout or Mendes that is keeping him in a job.

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Player Ratings

Alphonse Areola
One fantastic save, but a goal from a corner that he shouldn't really be beaten by, and then a flap at a cross that was harshly punished, but showed no skill of commanding his box. Like Jussi Jaaskelainen, he's quite good at saving some shots, but awful at everything else.


Kyle Walker-Peters
A touch harsh for his game to be judged on an error, but there's no reason for him to have moved off the post, and it cost a goal.


Ollie Scarles
He was targeted but stood up to it well. Had struggled last season against Hutchinson, but showed his improvements to nullify him to the point of substitution.


Konstantinos Mavropanos
Looked better without the confidence vampire Kilman next to him. He's still not good enough, but it appears every defender is worse next to the ??40m Roger Johnson.


Jean-Clair Todibo
Another decent performance, he bullied Igor Jesus and was a good guardian for Scarles.


Mateus Fernandes
A quieter role when he's played with Paqueta and Soucek as he has to sit behind them to ensure there is pace to deal with counter attacks. Managed that well.


Tomas Soucek
The midfield looks slightly poorer in possession and fluidity with him in the side, but he does lots of ugly and important stuff. Headers, blocks and tackles.


Lucas Paqueta
Anonymous today and clearly not fit enough yet. Or interested enough.


Crysencio Summerville
Looked brighter in parts and looked so relieved to have a goal. But dropped off after it was ruled out, and the side needed him to gather composure and go again.


Jarrod Bowen
Probably West Ham's worst player, in at least Paqueta didn't hinder his team, whereas Bowen wasted opportunities on the ball and around goal.


Valentin Castellanos
Quite the task to go in and suddenly click with players he'd had a day or two to train with. Worked hard, showed pace and bite, but lacked threat.

Substitutes

Ezra Mayers
(Scarles 64') Composed in defence and gets a good mark for that through ball alone. All he has to worry about is a lack of size, as he looks a player otherwise.


Pablo Felipe
(Paqueta 64') The side did suddenly look more dangerous when he came on, but playing behind the striker looked far from suitable for a player whose touch was questionable.


Freddie Potts
(Fernandes 80') Looked a bit lost and then started firing long balls forward at Walker-Peters.


Mads Hermansen
Did not play.


Max Kilman
Did not play.


Guido Rodriguez
Did not play.


Soungoutoo Magassa
Did not play.


Mohamadou Kante
Did not play.


George Earthy
Did not play.

Match Facts

West Ham United: Alphonse Areola, Kyle Walker-Peters, Ollie Scarles, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Jean-Clair Todibo, Mateus Fernandes, Tomas Soucek, Lucas Paqueta, Crysencio Summerville, Jarrod Bowen, Valentin Castellanos.

Goals: Murillo (OG) 0                  .

Booked: None booked.           .

Sent Off: None sent off.     .

Nottingham Forest: .

Subs not used: .

Goals: .

Booked: .

Sent off: None.

Referee: .

Attendance: 0.

Man of the Match: Ezra Mayers.