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Awoniyi scored Forest's first Premier League goal in 23 years in
first half stoppage time and it proved to be the difference as
both teams had goals disallowed by VAR and West Ham captain
Declan Rice had a second-half penalty saved.
"I'm really happy about it because it took me a long journey to
get back to the Premier League and I'm very, very proud of
myself," said Awoniyi, who was at Liverpool from 2015-21 but did
not make a competitive appearance and was loaned out several
times.
"It was a dream for me to score and for the team to win... I
believe we will have a great season."
Steve Cooper's side had been outclassed by Newcastle United
during their 2-0 defeat on the opening day but looked at home in
the top flight against West Ham, who were also looking to bounce
back from a 2-0 loss to champions Manchester City.
Spurred on by a boisterous home crowd, Forest started on the
front foot and kept David Moyes' West Ham at bay in a frantic
first half before Awoniyi, making his home debut, bundled home
Jesse Lingard's miscued shot from Harry Toffolo's cross.
Moments earlier, Said Benrahma had slotted past on-loan Forest
goalkeeper Dean Henderson following a West Ham counter-attack
but the goal was chalked off after Michail Antonio was adjudged
to have fouled Orel Mangala in the build-up.
West Ham midfielder Pablo Fornals struck the crossbar seconds
after the restart and the rebound fell to Tomas Soucek, whose
header was clawed away by Henderson as the visitors made an
electric start to the second half.
Their momentum was soon halted, however, when Forest forward
Brennan Johnson - their top scorer last season with 19 goals in
all competitions - beat goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski with a
dinked finish in the 54th minute before being ruled offside.
On the hour mark, West Ham winger Benrahma hit the woodwork from
distance before Soucek's shot was blocked by the slightly
extended arm of Forest defender Scott McKenna, resulting in a
penalty for the visitors after a VAR replay.
Rice stepped up to take the spot kick but his effort, dragged
low to his left, was saved superbly by Henderson to preserve the
hosts' slender lead.
In the closing stages, Forest full back Neco Williams cleared
Kurt Zouma's header off the line as Cooper's side saw out seven
minutes of stoppage time to pick up their first points of the
campaign.
"This place is a fortress. The fans have been bouncing all game
and they deserve this one," Henderson said.
"I know Dec's favourite side (on penalties) as I've trained with
him before... I stuck with what I knew and luckily he put it
there."
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in HyderabadEditing by Christian
Radnedge)
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