rewrite this title West Ham, ‘we have a problem,’ Nuno says of loss

Nuno Espirito Santo said “we have a problem” after West Ham United slumped to a dispiriting 2-0 defeat at home to Brentford.

Hammers fans picked the right night to stage a boycott as goals from Igor Thiago and Mathias Jensen secured a first away win of the season for Brentford, who should have won by a lot more.

Nuno’s first home match in charge coincided with a planned stay-away organised by supporters’ groups in protest against the club’s board.

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It seemed as though West Ham’s defence had also not bothered turning up in what was an alarmingly poor display.

Those fans who were in attendance sat there in near pin-drop silence as their team rolled over yet again — the first time they have lost their opening four home matches of a season in the club’s history — before booing them off at the end.

On the day Graham Potter — sacked by the Hammers last month — was named as the new manager of Sweden, his replacement got a stark illustration of the mess he has been left with.

“Not good enough. Poor,” was the head coach’s blunt assessment. “Fairly Brentford won the game, they were the better team.

“I think we are all concerned. You can see our own fans are concerned. Concern becomes anxiety, becomes silence. We have a problem.

“It’s understandable. It’s up to us to change. The fans need to see something that pleases them and they can support us and give us energy.

“I understand it, I understand it totally, and I respect it. It’s up to us, it’s up to us to change it.”

Brentford had 22 attempts on goal to West Ham’s seven. The only surprise was that it took them 43 minutes to score.

The goal came courtesy of Maximilian Kilman’s risible attempt at clearing a routine ball over the top, which allowed Kevin Schade to nip in behind and hook the ball to Thiago.

Hammers keeper Alphonse Areola got a hand to his shot, but the ball spun away and nestled inside the far post.

Thiago, ruled out for most of last season through injury, found the net again before the break, only for his effort to be ruled out by VAR for offside.

Thiago and Schade also hit the woodwork before Brentford finally wrapped up the win in stoppage time when Keane Lewis-Potter cut the ball back for fellow sub Jensen to fire into the roof of the net.

“Very pleased,” said boss Keith Andrews. “We approached the game really well. I had a good feeling the last few days, the vibe, the energy around the place. I thought we produced a really good performance.

“Ultimately you want that second goal to be more comfortable but I felt we controlled it in the main. It was the most complete performance of the season, for sure.”

The result left West Ham on four points from eight matches and second-bottom in the Premier League, and put Brentford in 13th place.

Information from PA was used in this story.