Tomas Soucek’s perseverance paid off, as his late-header secured a win of 3-2 for West Ham over Nottingham Forest.
The Czech midfielder had his header saved by Odysseas Vachodimos, Forest’s goalkeeper.
Soucek finally got the job done when he head home James Ward Prowse’s corner.
Forest took the lead thanks to goals from Anthony Elanga and Taiwo Elanga, after Lucas Paqueta put the Hammers in front with a goal just three minutes earlier.
Jarrod Bowen scored his eighth Premier League strike of the year to bring West Ham back into contention before Soucek stepped in.
Paqueta scored after Ibrahim Sangare was hit by Nicolas Dominguez’s pass that sailed across the field.
Vlachodimos’ dive was easily beaten by the Brazilian, who still had much to do.
Forest was denied an equaliser thanks to a spectacular save by Alphonse Awoniyi, who grabbed a header at point blank range from Awoniyi with a strong hand.
Mohammed Kudus then led a counterattack, squared the ball to Paqueta but this time he failed in his attempt at control and sent his weak shot straight towards Vlachodimos.
Forest slowly regained its shape, and began to frustrate West Ham who appeared to quickly run out of ideas.
As sideways passes after sideways passes failed, the crowd became restless.
Forest eventually got tired of the game and levelled the score at halftime, when Sangare gained possession of the ball amid a crowded midfield.
Sangare played Morgan Gibbs White through to the goal with the probably first pass forward of the game from either team.
Areola stopped Gibbs White’s angle shot, but Awoniyi tapped the rebound in to an empty net.
West Ham reacted more aggressively after the half-time break. Kudus’ shot was deflected before Emerson Palmieri narrowly missed.
Awoniyi should have put Forest ahead after he played a two-two with Elanga, but his shot was way off the mark.
Elanga, who had a cross from Ola-Aina, tucked it in just after an hour.
West Ham retaliated immediately. Bowen met Ward-Prowse’s corner and smashed a powerful head past Vlachodimos.
Soucek then took center stage. He first lifted the ball above Vlachodimos, only for it to bounce off the crossbar. The Greek goalkeeper then somehow managed to tip his downward headed over the top.
Soucek scored with just two minutes left, leaping above teammate Bowen and meeting another Ward-Prowse cross at the near post. It was West Ham’s Premier League first win since September.
