Nottingham Forest defeated West Ham United at the London Stadium, refusing to give up the fight for a spot in next season’s Champions League.
The Reds have endured a turbulent week on the back of two points having been dropped against relegated Leicester and a serious injury suffered by Taiwo Awoniyi.
Thankfully, Awoniyi is on the mend and Forest returned to form with a pretty dominant display against a West Ham outfit who are simply desperate for the season to end.
Forest won the game courtesy of goals from Morgan Gibbs-White and Nikola Milenkovic, with a lengthy VAR check leaving Jamie Carragher baffled for the second goal.
Once again, there were a number of top-performing players and afterwards, many have come in for plaudits from pundits and experts.
Photo by Alex Broadway/Getty Images
Photo by Alex Broadway/Getty Images
Micah Richards hails Morgan Gibbs-White after Nottingham Forest win
Gibbs-White was keen to place the emphasis on winning for Awoniyi after the game and as the captain for this one, he definitely led by example.
He was on hand to make the most of some horrendous goalkeeping from Alphonse Areola, tapping into an empty net after intercepting a stray pass.
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After the game, Lineker raved about Gibbs-White on The Rest is Football and thinks he’s developed into a wonderful player since joining Forest.
He said: “Morgan Gibbs-White, I think he’s blossoming into a really, really fine footballer. Heavy rumours as well about Manchester City coming in, Micah.”
Richards seemed impressed and replied with: “I heard that as well, yeah. No, it is something I’ve heard.”
Morgan Gibbs-White stats vs West Ham
It’s hard to believe that Gibbs-White is still only 25-years-old and this was once again a mature performance that saw him lead the team in exceptional style.
Gibbs-White is being courted by Manchester City, but Pep Guardiola will have to ask his board to dig very deep if he’s to win the race to sign him.
Morgan Gibbs-White stats vs West Ham Total
Minutes 83
Pass Accuracy 87.5%
Crosses 3
Long Balls 3
Interceptions 2
If Forest can secure Champions League football next weekend, Gibbs-White will surely crave a piece of that, and he would know that the Reds would play him regularly in that competition.
All Forest can do is try to stand firm but with PSR loitering on the horizon for every Premier League club, it still remains intriguing to see what they do in the summer.