Derby Delight At Last For Hammers

It seems that every time Nuno Espírito Santo adds to his coaching setup, his players then win the next game. Well, that is exactly what happened on Saturday afternoon. West Ham United gave their Head-Coach his first victory on the road since he took over from Graham Potter back on 27 September as he masterminded a 2-1 success at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

This not only meant that the team had finally come out on the right side of a London derby this season, but it also gave them their first Premier League win of 2026.

Espírito Santo made four changes from the team that knocked Sky Bet Championship side Queens Park Rangers out of the Emirates FA Cup in Stratford, as Alphonse Areola was restored to the starting line-up in place of Mads Hermansen, while Max Kilman, Soungoutou Magassa and Freddie Potts dropped to the bench. Konstantinos Mavropanos appeared to suffer a bad injury last weekend but, the Greek defender was deemed fit enough to retain his place. Mateus Fernandes had recovered from the injury that kept him out of the tie against Julien Stéphan’s side and Pablo Felipe was handed his full top-flight debut.

Tomáš Souček once again swapped places with youngster Ezra Mayers who joined fellow Development Squad player Mohamadou Kanté in taking his place amongst the substitutes. Striker Callum Wilson was surprisingly back involved, along with Brighton and Hove Albion loanee Igor Julio.

Given the start that Thomas Frank had to his reign as Head-Coach since taking the job from Ange Postecoglou in the summer, few would have believed that the hosts went into this game having boasted a record of only two home wins.

To be fair, it looked like that run was going to continue, as the Hammers were looking to build on the momentum gained from the cup tie six days earlier and the visitors were in control right from the start. Despite receiving an early yellow card for dissent towards referee Jarred Gillett inside the opening seconds of the contest, Valentín Castellanos tried his luck with fourteen minutes gone but unfortunately, he shot over.

Felipe thought he had claimed his first goal for the club soon after. However, this wasn’t the case, as Gillett had immediately ruled his effort out for a foul on Micky van de Ven by his Argentine strike partner.

Having missed the chance to open his account, Felipe did have a hand in the goal that put his side ahead. The Brazilian combined with Fernandes to set up Crysencio Summerville. The former Leeds United winger scored last weekend and added to his tally here when he found his way past two defenders and shot towards goal. The effort took a deflection off van de Ven and went into the net and past home goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.

Both sides were in the contest when Tottenham suddenly awoke from their slumber and tested Areola twice within a matter of seconds. Thankfully though, he was up to the task on both occasions, denying both Wilson Odobert and Djed Spence, who was an early replacement for the injured Ben Davies.

Vicario thought he would be tested when Castellanos had another chance but unfortunately, he headed wide, while Areola once again kept out an effort from the home side, as Mathys Tel went close, before that particular passage of play ended when Summerville sent his latest attempt wide of the target.

The ever-loyal fan base thought the advantage had been extended for their team but, captain Jarrod Bowen was in an offside position after Vicario had parried the ball back into his path, following good play between Souček and Summerville.

The chances kept coming for the Irons but, Mavropanos wasted the latest of them, meaning that when Gillett blew the whistle for the break, the one goal was all that separated the two teams.

The hosts made their second change at half-time, as Yves Bissouma took the place of Archie Gray for his first appearance of the season.

Whatever Frank said to his side in the dressing room during the break seemed to bring the desired response, as Spurs were much improved at the start of the second-half. They had early opportunities with Bissouma forcing Areola into an early save and after the stopper had denied his compatriot, Spence fired wide.

Since the action was back underway, the hosts put their opponents under immense pressure, and it finally paid off just after the hour mark when home skipper Cristian Romero beat Areola as he headed Pedro Porro’s cross home.

Frank’s side were definitely having the best of the play by this point with Spurs looking the most likely to get the next goal fortunately though, neither Bissouma, Odobert, nor Romero could make the most of their opportunities. In between all of that, Castellanos also missed the target with a curling effort.

Espírito Santo didn’t opt to make a change until the seventy ninth minute when he introduced Guido Rodríguez for Felipe.

Oliver Scarles would have scored his first senior goal for the club with little more than ten minutes left in the contest had it not been for his free-kick being cleared off the line by van de Ven. Whilst up the other end, Areola did brilliantly to block a shot from home debutant Connor Gallagher.

Scarles survived a VAR check for handball, before the French stopper was called upon again and he came up trumps once more, as Xavi Simons was prevented from turning the game on its head.

The drama was still not over, even though the match was into stoppage time by this point. The Irons Head-Coach had just sent on Wilson in place of Castellanos and that task was left to him, as the East Londoners were awarded a corner after the latest substitute had his first attempt blocked. The former Coventry City, AFC Bournemouth and Newcastle United man took up pole position and when the ball was delivered into the box, it hit Mavropanos and fell invitingly for Wilson to beat Vicario and send the away end into delirium.

However, before the goal was allowed to stand, there was another VAR check to determine whether he was offside, but the cheers could begin again after a lengthy review.

The visitors were in no mood to let their late lead slip, so in an attempt to keep things tight, Kilman entered the fray, taking the place of Fernandes.

The result was huge for the Hammers, who will now hope to close the gap between them and Nottingham Forest to just two points by earning another victory when they host newly-promoted Sunderland in next Saturday’s early kick-off.

One player that won’t be involved in that game however, is midfielder Andrew Irving as it was made public on Monday that he was allowed to leave East London to go in search of regular first-team football at Czech side Sparta Prague. The Scotsman joins on a permanent basis for an undisclosed fee.

Any further developments on transfers will appear here once the details are confirmed.