Nottingham Forest 3-0 West Ham: Chris Wood scores AGAIN along with an Ola Aina thunderbolt to help Nuno Espirito Santo's side move into the TOP FOUR - as Edson Alvarez is sent off for dismal Hammers

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 Nottingham Forest currently represent everything West Ham want to be.

They are a team with identity and a clear playing style. There is a connection between their manager, Nuno Espirito Santo, and the supporters. Their centre forward, Chris Wood, cannot stop scoring. 

Saturday's victory at the City Ground saw them climb to third in the Premier League table. Whisper it quietly, they may just be European contenders this season.

That is what West Ham were supposed to be. What Nuno has created at Forest is what Julen Lopetegui was tasked with bringing to east London when he took over from David Moyes. The Spaniard may only be 10 games in, but his team could not be further away from competing with Europe’s elite.

Nuno will continue to play down Forest’s ambitions this season, but why can’t his supporters dream?

Chris Wood scored again as Nottingham Forest beat West Ham United on Saturday afternoon

Striker Wood found the net with a header from the edge of the six-yard box in the 27th minute

That was New Zealander Wood's sixth goal for club and country since the start of October

‘All of us should be proud of the way we performed,’ Nuno said.

‘They scored beautiful goals, amazing goals. It’s a fantastic moment for our fans but it doesn’t mean anything now. ‘We have to keep going. It’s a very long season.’

After Wood opened the scoring in the 27th minute, Edson Alvarez saw red for two yellow cards before half-time. Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ola Aina then both scored superb long-range strikes in the second.

‘We have to do much better,’ Lopetegui said. ‘We didn’t deserve to win or draw the match. We suffered a first goal that we can avoid.

‘We had a chance to score and then the next action was the red card, it was two key moments.’

West Ham did not lay a glove on Forest and were punished when Wood scored his eighth of the season. The forward now has 23 Premier League goals for Forest, one behind Bryan Roy’s all-time record. 

He has found the net as many times as Manchester United’s entire team. Baffling, then, that West Ham decided to leave him unmarked in the penalty area.

Morgan Gibbs-White played a brilliant pass to Alex Moreno on the left and he chipped in a cross which Wood headed home from close-range.

It had taken West Ham 45 minutes to have their first shot on goal, but it nearly brought them level. A corner dropped to Lucas Paqueta on the edge of the box but his goal-bound effort was superbly blocked by goalscorer Wood. 

Forest turned defence into attack and within 30 seconds, West Ham had been reduced to 10 men. Alvarez was already on a booking when he flew into the striding Anthony Elanga, who was sent tumbling. Referee Peter Bankes had no option but to produce a second yellow card.

Lopetegui took off Crysencio Summerville and Guido Rodriguez at half-time and brought on Carlos Soler and Michail Antonio, but it was Nuno’s changes that made the difference. Elliott Anderson came on for Gibbs-White and immediately forced Jean-Clair Todibo into a foul on the edge of the box. 

West Ham were reduced to 10 men just before half-time when Edson Alvarez was sent off

Former Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi doubled the home side's lead in the 65th minute

Ola Aina made it 3-0 to Forest in the 78th minute with a powerful strike from long range

Anderson took the free-kick short to Hudson-Odoi, whose shot flew past everyone in the box and into the top right corner. The ball took a slight nick off the head of Nuno’s other substitute, Jota Silva, but the goal was given to Hudson-Odoi,

Aina then put gloss on the win with the best goal of the afternoon. The right back cut inside and curled a sensational shot into the top left corner past a helpless Lukasz Fabianski.