Nuno Espirito Santo was impressed as Nottingham Forest defeated West Ham United 2-1 to take the battle for Champions League football to the final day of the campaign.
Morgan Gibbs-White was the opportunist after 11 minutes when he intercepted a stray Alphonse Areola pass to fire into an empty net, and that largely set the tone.
Nikola Milenkovic added a second on 61 minutes, with Jarrod Bowen pulling one back with just four minutes of normal time remaining to set up a grandstand finish.
It was Forest who prevailed, however, and after the game, Espirito Santo was visibly delighted with his team’s performance after a couple of barren weeks.
Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images
Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images
Nuno Espirito Santo raves about Matz Sels after win over West Ham
Just 68 seconds were on the clock when Sels was called into action, expertly tipping a Tomas Soucek header over the crossbar to avert a nightmare start for the Reds.
Sels made other good stops during the contest, including one in the 11 minutes of stoppage time that was added when space was found in the penalty area.
Espirito Santo was once again impressed with his goalkeeper and name-checked him during his post-match press conference with Sky Sports.
He said: “We were in control until West Ham scored. Then the anxiety comes when we allow the goal and everything is difficult from there. Matz Sels did great again, so we’re very happy there.”
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Nottingham Forest make history vs West Ham
It’s already been a season to remember for Forest and things could get even better on the final day of the campaign when Chelsea come to the City Ground.
Yesterday, Forest made history by becoming the first team to ever double their points tally from one season to the next in the Premier League.
Last season, Forest finished with 32 points after having four points deducted for breaching PSR at the mid-way point of the campaign.
Going into the final day, the Reds now have 65 points and a win on the final day of the campaign could see Forest achieve one of the most remarkable feats since Leicester managed to win the Premier League in 2016.