Nuno Espirito Santo’s 81st-minute call once again puts his decision-making under the spotlight as West Ham fall to Aston Villa | OneFootball

West Ham United suffered a 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa at the London Stadium today.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side showed promise, but the Villains proved too strong. Despite West Ham taking the lead twice, Villa battled back to claim the victory.

The Villains were better on the day, and Nuno can probably take some positives from this game, but his decision-making continues to puzzle.

West Ham had to roll the dice following Morgan Rogers’ winner, but Nuno inexplicably took Soungoutou Magassa off for Callum Wilson.

While the move makes sense on paper, anyone watching could see that Magassa was doing brilliantly in midfield.

He had won six out of nine duels and made eight recoveries protecting the rearguard.

Meanwhile, Lucas Paqueta was having a horrendous outing. The Brazilian struggled to make an impact and should have been the one to come off the pitch.

Paqueta lost possession 16 times, won only two of his 11 duels and committed two fouls. He was disappointing and needed to make way.

Nuno’s calls have been ponderous this season, and this was another example.  At this stage of the campaign, fine margins matter more than ever.

West Ham are not being blown away. They are being undone by moments, and too often those moments stem from the touchline rather than the pitch.

Taking off one of your most effective midfield protectors while leaving a misfiring playmaker on felt like a move driven by theory rather than feel.

Nuno will rightly point to spirit and attacking intent, but intent alone will not drag West Ham clear of trouble.

Results are the currency in a relegation fight, and repeated question marks over in-game decisions are becoming harder to ignore.