Nuno Espirito Santo sets out his West Ham blueprint as Lucas Paqueta leaves no doubts | OneFootball

A first win for the new manager - and one in his vision

Nuno Espirito Santo’s West Ham tenure was given a much-needed and richly deserved jolt in the arm, as the Hammers secured their first win under the coach with a 3-1 victory over Newcastle at the London Stadium.

From start to end, West Ham played with purpose. Winless at home before today, they started brightly and showed flickers of the identity Nuno is trying to carve out, as they hit the post through Jarrod Bowen inside four minutes.

Life, though, at the bottom of the Premier League can be cruel and unforgiving, and it felt like another long afternoon after Newcastle sprung forward to take the lead less than a minute later as Jacob Murphy twisted El Hadji Malick Diouf inside out before rifling a shot into the bottom corner from just outside the box.

Fine margins need to count in your favour when you find yourself in the position West Ham are currently in, but it was Newcastle, who remain winless away from home, who’d again strike lucky as Malick Thiaw was adjudged to have got the faintest of touches on the ball when challenging with Bowen in the area.

A goal down and denied a penalty, West Ham didn’t lose their early spark, though, and with former Newcastle frontman Callum Wilson leading the line for the first time under Nuno, they had a focal point for Bowen to play off.

Crysencio Summerville was a lively presence for the hosts, humming in and around the top of the box. He drew the foul from which Lucas Paqueta’s low free-kick was pushed out for a corner by Nick Pope and linked up well with Malick Diouf down the left-hand side.

By the 32-minute mark, West Ham had produced more shots on target than they had in the entirety of Nuno’s first home game in charge, and they soon found the equaliser their play had deserved as Paqueta fired in from the edge of the area.

Nuno had called on Paqueta, linked with a move away over the summer, to become a symbol for West Ham in his pre-match comments, and the Brazilian produced a piece of quality to get the Hammers back on level terms.

There was renewed fight in West Ham, undeterred by Newcastle’s fast start, and they went into half-time on the back of cheers rather than the typical chorus of boos after Sven Botman’s own goal turned the game on its head. This was the first time West Ham had led a game heading into the break this season.

This was a performance that supporters, many of whom stayed behind after full-time to protest against the club’s board, could be proud of. Their frustrations don’t lie with Nuno and his players.

Talking of pride. No one in the London Stadium could be prouder than Steve Potts, appointed to Nuno’s backroom staff earlier this month. He watched on as his son, Freddie, on his Premier League debut, wrestled for control with Newcastle’s wily and battle-hardened midfield.

The young midfielder did not shirk responsibility and was desperately unlucky to see what would have been his first West Ham goal ruled out for offside.

West Ham have been particularly pitiful on home soil this season, but they looked like a team re-energised against Newcastle, and rather than cling to their lead, they went searching for more goals.

Nuno will take great encouragement not just from the result but also from the performance his side produced today, which was capped by Tomas Soucek’s stoppage-time goal, awarded after another VAR review.

Making West Ham’s supporters enjoy watching their side again is one of the main aims for Nuno, and after a front-footed display against a team who have more than held their own in the Champions League this season, he can happily say he has set out a blueprint for how he wants his side to play.