West Ham’s disastrous season continued as a devastating first 15 minutes proved critical in a 2-1 defeat by Leeds at Elland Road.
After a poor 2-0 defeat at home to Brentford on Monday, Nuno Espirito Santo called for an improvement in performance in terms of effort. But even West Ham’s fiercest rivals could not have planned such a bad start.
The goals came from West Ham’s usual weaknesses: crosses and corners. In Leeds’ first attack after three minutes, Brenden Aaronson struck from close range as the hosts won two duels in the penalty area in the air.
Then from Leeds’ first corner, Joe Rawdon slotted past Lucas Paquette to beat Jean-Clair Todibo and Max Kilman in the air to nod home. It was the ninth goal West Ham have conceded from a corner this season, which has lasted just nine games so far.
Joe Rawdon gave Leeds a 2-0 lead inside the first 15 minutes
Nuno couldn’t believe his eyes and brought on Callum Wilson after 20 minutes for the injured Ollie Scarles, who was beaten too easily for the first goal and came off before injury anyway.
West Ham went ahead after that with a real striker on the pitch and Paqueta saw a goal disallowed for narrowly offside. But the Hammers were still booed by their fans at the break as they moved down the tunnel just outside the away end.
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West Ham fans made their feelings very clear at half-time at Elland Road as the Hammers trailed 2-0 at the break
Leeds had better chances in the second period as well, with Aronson hitting the crossbar and West Ham opening up too easily from another counter-attack.
But when all hope was gone, Mateus Fernandes scored his first goal for the Hammers – heading home Jarrod Bowen’s effort – to set up a nervy finish four minutes into stoppage time. However, it was too little, too late.
The result moved Daniel Farke’s side six points clear of the relegation zone ahead of the weekend games.
But for Nunn’s West Ham, who have made their joint worst start to a league season on points, they remain second bottom and if Wolves beat Burnley on Saturday, the Hammers will drop to the foot of the Premier League table.
WATCH: West Ham’s disastrous start with two goals!
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Brenden Aronson put Leeds ahead after three minutes
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Rodon made it 2-0 in the first 15 minutes
“West Ham just didn’t turn up”
Former West Ham goalkeeper Rob Green on Friday Night Football:
“Where do we start? It was just a repeat of Monday night from the start. A shape we didn’t understand, the reverse backs on the wrong side. It didn’t work on Monday and they went out and did the same and it cost them goals.
“Again, they could have been down by four at halftime. They just didn’t show up.”
“I don’t know how you could make five changes and have a better KSI and a better form than what you started the game with.”
“Nothing makes sense. No collective thinking. Mistakes. You can go on and on.”
“They didn’t play well and they had chances. This is not a good Leeds team in the Premier League sense. Leeds didn’t have to do much for their chances.
“West Ham didn’t play well and had some chances. You look at it and say just turn up, do the basics, get the basics right and you’ll give yourself a chance. They’re not doing that at the moment.”
Nuno: Such mistakes are unacceptable
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Nuno Espirito Santo says his West Ham team have not dealt with many situations and they need to change after many unacceptable mistakes
West Ham coach Nuno Espirito Santo for Sky Sports:
“Simple explanation: we didn’t deal with problems. We didn’t deal with things in our box, set-pieces, we didn’t deal with other balls. We didn’t deal with many things.
“It’s realizing that we have to work harder and commit. We have to be a lot better. We’re going to do it. I feel like the players want it. The players are willing to do things. But there are a lot of off-times that punish us.”
“We’re doing this. We’re working on the way we approach meetings. But it’s not happening.”
On bringing on Wilson after 20 minutes: “It didn’t work. We had to make a change. We didn’t deal with our defensive situations. We felt we needed a striker to hold the ball. The situation wasn’t the best, that’s on me.
“But then comes everything that has to be with individuals. It’s unacceptable in the Premier League, mistakes like this.
“The second half was good and much better. It wasn’t enough to score a late goal. We played well, we played better, but 45 minutes is not enough, especially when we start so badly, it’s a mountain.
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West Ham scored a late consolation goal
“We have to change. The players know, we know. Our fans know. The club knows there is still time. Time can also be a bad sign if we don’t change immediately.”
Farke: Priceless three points for us
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Daniel Farke says Leeds have had a difficult week with a lack of players in training but is pleased they showed passion to claim an ‘invaluable’ three points against West Ham
Leeds coach Daniel Farke for Sky Sports:
“I am delighted and satisfied with the three points. It is difficult to explain how we stood after the last three games with only one point in our hands. Today we crossed the line.
“We’ve had more dominant and controlled performances in the season, but we’ve had a tough week with sickness and injuries, a lot of players have struggled, players have just come back from long-term and short-term injuries. You could tell it was a tough week.
“We showed passion and courage at the beginning and we played aggressively. We scored two goals, the structure with the ball today was a little wide and not perfect. We corrected it at half-time, much better in the second half. We had the fighting will, passion and spirit to get it over the line. Nerves started again, but it was good and confidence to bring us three points without a price.
“We talked about set pieces, they conceded a few. I don’t want to blame the opponents. We showed aggressive football and courage to apply pressure to bring the ball as quickly as possible.”
Analysis: West Ham are doomed unless Nuno pulls off a miracle
Sam Blitz of Ski Sports:
The result was going to be a close game, but it wasn’t. The usual problems arose for West Ham, whose inability to defend crosses and corners struck again and gave them a huge task.
It’s not a question of when will West Ham learn? When will West Ham give themselves a chance?
When will Nuno Espirito Santo give himself a chance too, after two wrong formations against Leeds and Brentford as he experiments with reverse backs playing on the wrong side and without a centre-forward?
After a disastrous first 15 minutes in which they were 2-0 down, they were lucky that the Leeds side were pretty much missed as it could have been worse before half-time.
West Ham did not deserve to come back in this game. Leeds ran almost seven kilometers more than them, creating chance after chance straight through the heart of the team.
Given that West Ham have been in this league for over a decade, this is unacceptable.
There are holes in defence, holes in midfield and Nuno reluctantly using Callum Wilson as his only recognized, good striker, there is a hole in attack too.
If the Hammers play like this against their relegation rivals, how will they fare against better teams?
West Ham are going down unless Nuno changes – along with his team. It will take a miracle at this point.