Tomas Souceck scored late to give West Ham the three points against Nottingham Forest, pushing the Hammers into the top 10 after three straight defeats.
It was an essential win for West Ham and David Moyes who faced questions over his future after a run of defeats raised doubts over his long-term future as manager.
However, back-to-back home wins is sure to release some pressure on the experienced manager as West Ham look to get their season back up and running.
However, despite the three points, it was a sluggish game with the team lacking ideas once again.
Whether that’s down to a lack of direction from Moyes, or low confidence mixed with a huge exertion against Olympiacos in midweek is another question.
A fast start slowly dampened down after Lucas Paqueta scored after just three minutes before Forest scored twice, putting Moyes’ side on the back foot.
Despite a lacklustre display along with tired legs, it was a resilient performance that will breathe confidence into the players after a tough run of form heading into the international break.
Should West Ham do better?
If the Hammers are to become a regular figure in European football, they need to be more consistent, organised and ruthless and at the moment, they lack that.
Speaking after the game, Moyes highlighted some of the issues they faced with the schedule of European football and their need to continue adapting to the schedule: “It’s really difficult to win Thursday, Sunday football in the Premier League with the level of opposition you’ve got to play on a Sunday.
“We’ve done that for two seasons now so I’d like to say we were getting good at it and getting used to it but it’s the quality and sometimes that’s why you’re having to change your players but I just think the two-day recovery is really tough on the players but today it didn’t show.”
This is an issue but it also needs to be pointed out that Moyes and West Ham can do so much better. They were poor for large periods in the league last season, with a Europa Conference League glossing heavily over a poor domestic season.
