LONDON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Nottingham Forest eased away from the Premier League relegation zone and left West Ham United in deep trouble as Morgan Gibbs-White slotted a late penalty for a priceless 2-1 victory at the London Stadium on Tuesday.
Billed as a relegation six-pointer between the sides 17th and 18th in the table, West Ham took the lead thanks to a Murillo own goal but their hopes of ending a nine-match winless run faded in the second half.
Nicolas Dominguez headed an equaliser for Forest in the 55th minute, shortly after West Ham's Crysencio Summerville had seen a goal ruled out for a marginal offside decision.
In a nervous finale, West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola clattered into Gibbs-White trying to deal with a ball into the area and referee Tony Harrington awarded a spot kick after viewing a pitch-side VAR monitor.
Gibbs-White stepped up to convert in the 89th minute and Forest hung on for a crucial win that lifted them seven points above the drop zone.
Forest have 21 points from 21 games with third-from-bottom West Ham on 14 after a 10-game run without a league win and pressure piling up on manager Nuno Espirito Santo.
The previous meeting between the two clubs ended with West Ham scoring three late goals in a 3-0 win at the City Ground in August, a result that effectively ended Espirito Santo's reign as Forest manager.
Four months on, having replaced Graham Potter as West Ham manager in September, the Portuguese coach looked crestfallen in the rain after a damaging result that means he has won only two of his 16 league games in charge.
At halftime, West Ham were on course to cut the gap to Forest to one point. By the end it was a seven-point margin and their survival hopes are looking bleak.
'FOUGHT RIGHT TO THE END'
Forest had lost four league games on the bounce but rode their luck at times as they got back to winning ways.
"It wasn't a nice game, we knew it was going to be a battle because of the position of both teams," Gibbs-White said. "But what I liked is that we fought right to the end.
"When the (West Ham) goal was disallowed it changed the momentum of the game and gave us belief."
West Ham made four changes to the side that lost 3-0 to bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers at the weekend, handing a debut to new forward signing Taty Castellanos while fellow new recruit Pablo Felipe came off the bench in the second half.
And when the hosts took the lead in the 13th minute as Murillo inadvertently headed past his keeper Matz Sels after Tomas Soucek flicked on a corner there was hope amongst the home fans that the night could mark a turning point.
There was a lack of belief though on the pitch and Forest were the better side and unlucky not to level when Callum Hudson-Odoi curled a superb effort against the crossbar.
A flat mood in the stadium, with many empty seats, reflected the gloom at West Ham, but when Summerville thumped a shot past Sels soon after the break the mood was briefly buoyant.
But a VAR check confirmed a marginal offside and when Dominguez looped in a flicked header in the 55th minute to make it 1-1 the writing seemed on the wall for the hosts.
Captain Jarrod Bowen fired an effort wide for West Ham and was denied by a superb Murillo block but it was Forest who emerged with three vital points after Areola's rush of blood.
"We have to keep believing and sticking together, it's not over yet. We keep on going," said Espirito Santo.
(Reporting by Martyn HermanEditing by Toby Davis)
