Premier League relegation battle: Pereira salutes Forest players after safety confirmed; Nuno’s West Ham “ready to give all” as Spurs slip-up offers hope | OneFootball

Pereira's Forest are safe, but Nuno’s West Ham have much to do [Getty Images]

Vítor Pereira’s Nottingham Forest secured their place in next season’s Premier League after a dramatic late equaliser against Newcastle on Sunday, coupled with subsequent results going their way, ensured they will avoid relegation this term.

On the day Forest earned their latest point, Nuno Espirito Santo’s West Ham United suffered a damaging 1-0 defeat to title hopefuls Arsenal, but Tottenham Hotspur failed to fully capitalise the following night against Leeds United, offering a glimmer of hope for the Hammers.

Pereira’s Forest faced the tough prospect of hosting Newcastle at the City Ground less than 72 hours after their Europa League dreams were ended in crushing fashion by Aston Villa. Forest had taken a 1-0 lead into the second leg of their semi-final at Villa Park, but were thrashed 4-0 in the return meeting, leaving Pereira to pick up the pieces while tasked with securing domestic survival.

The Reds had to do things the hard way on Sunday, falling behind in the 74th minute when Harvey Barnes put Newcastle into a late 1-0 lead. However, star midfielder Elliot Anderson popped up to score from close range on 87 minutes, which would later prove an equaliser to mathematically guarantee their place in the top flight for another year.

“It was a very tough week for us,” Pereira said after the match. “We started with a win against Chelsea and then we didn’t really have time to prepare for a semi-final away from home and it was a very difficult game. But we are mentally strong and we came back to face a strong team, although we didn’t have full energy because we had some difficult days after the Europa League.

“The character and the belief of these players is fantastic, the supporters helped us a lot and in the end we deserved the point. After we equalised we gave everything to try and get the win.

“Before the game I said to the players to keep our future in our hands. In the end, if you look at the circumstances of the week, I think it was a good point and what we deserved.”

Nuno expecting more twists as Spurs draw gives West Ham lifeline

West Ham United’s dramatic 1-0 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday not only left their survival hopes severely damaged, it also led to widespread discussion over the implementation of VAR this season in the Premier League.

Nuno Espírito Santo’s side, which contained Portuguese midfielder Mateus Fernandes, trailed 1-0 in stoppage time against their London rivals when they thought they snatched a point through substitute Callum Wilson, only to see the goal disallowed for a foul on Gunners goalkeeper David Raya.

While many felt the foul was correctly punished, the perception that such incidents have often been ignored throughout a season in which physicality during set-pieces has been a familiar sight, left plenty bemoaning inconsistent officiating.

Indeed, Nuno spoke with frustration after the match but urged his players to keep their focus ahead of the final two outings, which see them travel to Newcastle United next weekend before hosting Leeds United on the final day.

“It’s been happening in recent seasons, the lack of consistency around what has been allowed with grappling, blocking, contact,” Nuno said. “Even the referees lost a little bit of the idea of what is a foul and what is not a foul.

“Today, the decision went against us. That’s why we are really, really upset, because it happened before and it was judged in a different way. That’s what upsets us.

“Look, it’s disappointing. It was three points that we needed to accomplish our mission, but it’s not over. We don’t know what can happen. Let’s try to recover well. It’s going to be tough, because now a lot of emotions are in our head, but we’re going to recover the players and we’re going to give it a go in Newcastle.

“I have nothing [bad] to say about the performance, the character, the energy that we put in, but it was a game that we needed to win, and we lost it.  So now we have to realise the position that we are in but with the same respect we have for each other, mainly for our Club. We’re going to give it our all until the last second, expecting that anything can happen.

“We’re going to prepare well, compete well, expecting that things can turn our way. This is what we’re going to fight for. We’re going to fight for it.”

Fernandes: We need to believe

On a positive note for the Hammers, the only remaining contenders in avoiding the drop, Tottenham Hotspur, failed in their hopes of opening a four-point gap between the sides. Spurs, with João Palhinha in midfield, were held to a 1-1 draw by Leeds United in the capital, meaning their advantage is just two points ahead of their own tough trip to fierce rivals Chelsea next week.

For midfielder Fernandes, the defeat to Arsenal was particularly tough to take given he missed the Hammers’ best chance of the match, seeing his effort saved by Raya when through on goal shortly before the visitors themselves opened the scoring. However, the former Sporting man insists the team will retain their belief that further twists can occur in the race to avoid 18th place.

“We fought for every ball and for every duel and we showed a lot of spirit in the team,” said Fernandes. “It was incredible on the pitch. We felt every moment the effort of the team.

“We needed to score our chances. My chance, I needed to score. I train every day to score my chances. It was a good save from David as well.

“Now we have to look forward, to rest, to sleep well and try to recover to play against Newcastle because we need to win that game. I think, first of all, we need to look at the game and take confidence from the fact we played well against the first team in this league, so if we can compete against these teams, we can compete against all the teams in this league.

It gives confidence to my teammates, to the Club, because we can do it. There are still games to play and points to take and we need to believe until the end because there are two games and things can change very quick.”