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 2-3 defeat to Aston Villa at the London Stadium, leaving the Hammers rotting in the relegation zone.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side showed promise, but the Villains proved too strong in East London.

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.

Following Morgan Rogers’ winner, West Ham had to roll the dice, but Nuno inexplicably took Soungoutou Magassa off on 81 for Callum Wilson.

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

He had won 6/9 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 (one of those led to a Villa equaliser), won only 2/11 duels and committed two fouls. He was disappointing and needed to make way.

Nuno’s calls, especially his line-ups, this season have been ponderous, and this was another example.

At this stage of the campaign, those 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.