West Ham 0-2 Brentford: Nuno defeated in first home match | OneFootball

West Ham sleepwalked to a 2-0 defeat in Nuno Espirito Santo’s first home match at the London Stadium.

Unbeknownst to fans protesting against the club’s owners, his side were punished for sloppy first-half defending when Thiago’s shot deflected in off of Alphonse Areola.

Kevin Schade went close as he hit the crossbar like Thiago in the first half, but Mathias Jensen smashed in a second to keep West Ham 19th in the Premier League.

As It Happened

The first half sprang to life at the half-hour mark as Brentford refused to convert four chances in three frantic minutes.

Michael Kayode picked out Nathan Collins with an accurate cross before the Irishman headed on to Thiago, who could only side-foot against the crossbar from merely yards out.

The home side gave Kaypode too much time once more out wide before his cross was headed goalwards by Mikkel Damsgaard, but Alphonse Areola tipped the header wide at full stretch.

Areola then thwarted Thiago with a sprawling save, moments before Dango Ouattara then went close with a looping header from a corner.

Two minutes before first-half stoppage time, Yarmoulik floated a simple high ball in behind for Schade, moving it onto Thiago for the striker to unleash a shot that spun over the line off of Areola’s stretched arm.

Caoimhin Kelleher tipped a great try from the edge of the by Jarrod Bowen round the post minutes before Thiago was slotted in behind by Damsgaard and chipped the ball over Areola, yet was caught offside in the prior build-up.

However, West Ham might’ve been several more goals down and got off lightly as the away side went into the break 1-0.

Evidently unhappy, Espirito Santo called three defenders off the bench at half-time in Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Konstantinos Mavropanos, and Malick Diouf – switching to a back three.

However, Brentford kept carving through his side with ease, earning a corner which Sepp van den Berg squandered with a free header before Schade leapt highest to head Kayode’s floated cross against the crossbar.

West Ham couldn’t muster a shot on target in the second half and never looked close to threatening Kelleher’s goal since Bowen’s long range strike.

Brentford substitute Keane Lewis-Potter found himself in all kinds of space on the right, running towards the penalty area and curling wide with Mavropanos down off the ball and Summerville limping back.

What was left of the home support was soon streaming out of the ground, and didn’t see Lewis-Potter square the ball for Jensen to smash into the top corner in stoppage time, condemning a toothless West Ham to yet another home defeat.

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