A gloriously dominant display at the City Ground saw Nottingham Forest thrash West Ham United 3-0, with the Reds moving up to third place in the Premier League. George Edwards was at the match
Nottingham Forest are third in the Premier League.
Not since the days of Clough and Clark has there been so much positive traction behind a top-flight Nottingham Forest side. Victories seem second nature, results always earned and belief constantly renewed on a weekly basis.
Third in the table by no fluke; Forest could have more points to be critical. They have England and now Brazil internationals. And they are flooring established Premier League teams for fun.
As the nights begin to draw in, the City Ground atmosphere continues to be a cauldron of spine-tingling noise and excitement, with all 27,000 of those in Red in full vocal support of their troops, spurred on by another pre-match Forza Garibaldi special.
With bonfire night looming, the Reds well and truly let off fireworks against West Ham, outmuscling, outpacing and outclassing their opponents in every element of the game.
It was a day where everything came in threes.
Three wins in a row now, all three displaying Forest’s quality in different ways. Whether they’ve had to dominate possession or bide their time patiently and pounce, the Reds have always come out on top, almost effortlessly.
Third place in the league, behind only Manchester City and Liverpool. And by no means have they had an easy run, destroying Liverpool and pickpocketing Chelsea amongst their positive results this season.
Three goals, three special goals, three treasured goals — all of which told their own story.
Chris Wood’s customary opener reaffirmed his status as the league’s most in-form striker, not that he has needed to remind us recently. Then just a few minutes later, Wood was back inside his own box, putting his body on the line to retain the lead, a true modern Forest hero now just a goal away from being their all-time top PL scorer. Eight goals now this season, second in the golden boot race, behind a certain pony-tailed Norwegian.
Callum Hudson-Odoi’s second of the season illustrated the calibre of players at Forest’s disposal currently, and the true methodology and transformative change to set pieces this season.
Ola Aina’s ridiculous third summed up the confidence brimming from every single person affiliated with the club at the moment — that untouchable, loving feeling.
Goals numbers four, five, and six could easily have come here, with Forest unlucky not to have more. The day’s biggest and warmest cheer came when Ryan Yates swept home his first City Ground Premier League goal, only for the most tedious of VAR checks to confirm his offside status.
Nikola Milenkovic and Hudson-Odoi both saw Lucasz Fabiabski deny them spectacularly, as Morgan Gibbs-White was welcomed back to the starting XI with open arms.
His selection if fit is always undoubted, shown by the creativity on display to set up Álex Moreno down the left wing for the opener. However, Forest didn’t look overly better with him on the pitch and certainly didn’t look weaker once he was replaced, with his substitute Elliot Anderson winning a free kick and getting an assist within two minutes of his introduction.
The Reds would never have been in a position to compete without him in their previous two seasons, let alone dominate and win two games rather comfortably in his absence. Currently, the squad is at one of its all-time highs, with real depth and competition in every place.
Experienced Premier League talent like James Ward-Prowse and exciting new stars like Morato, Jota Silva and Ramon Sosa — players Forest would have cried out for in recent years — are struggling to get starts despite being more than ready for Premier League football. And that’s before you even consider that Taiwo Awoniyi has only played 105 minutes this season, despite being fit all campaign.
They are creating chances for fun. It used to be a chore for Forest to even get over the halfway line; now every time they do there’s genuine belief that a goal will come from it.
Nineteen shots on goal today. Six on target and an xG rating of over two to secure their third straight home win against West Ham. Rampant.
Playing against 10 men is also never easy in the Premier League, but Forest weren’t phased. They continued to plug away in their distinct style, waiting for the right openings and overloads to come around, punishing West Ham when they did.
The most comforting thing about the current team has to be the defence, though. For all of their attacking threat, Forest conceded just four shots, two on target, and never for one moment looked as if they were going to let one in.
There’s that old saying that attacks win games, defences win titles. Forest almost certainly won’t be winning a title, but their performances are all rooted upon their solid bedrock. They boast the second-best defence in the league and have two centre-backs who just relish defending and are both colossal at doing so.
Next to them, Moreno and Aina have displayed that they can both be rigid and that defending comes first, but when the chance arises they have the quality to contribute, with a goal and an assist between them today.
Now more than ever, supporters are looking forward to match days, their mouths watering with excitement and anticipation as to who the Reds will fell next.
They aren’t third after three games, or having played two games more than the rest. They sit third on merit, over a quarter into the season and at a time when people really start to take note. Nineteen points is half of the entirety of their first campaign back in the big time; who would have thought this level of progression would blossom so swiftly?
Three wins in a row with Nuno banished to the back benches, we all know where he needs to stay should Forest fail to beat Newcastle on his return to the dugout next week, as Forest look to close the gap to the top two…
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