Nuno Espirito Santo celebrates first win as West Ham United boss

LONDON – Nuno Espirito Santo celebrated his first win as West Ham United manager on Nov 2 as his spirited team battled from behind to beat Newcastle United 3-1 at the London Stadium.

The Hammers remain in the relegation zone after just their second English Premier League win of the season but are now just three points behind 17th-placed Burnley, whom they play on Nov 8.

West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen told Sky Sports: “It’s been a difficult period, but we’re the only ones that can change it. We’ve got to put (up) a performance. We’ve got to go out there and do what we know that we’re capable of.

“You know, sometimes you think, is that luck gonna change? And we’ll be stuck at it. And then, you know, you go on and get a comfortable win. I know we’ve got that as a group, but we just haven’t shown it enough recently.” 

Eddie Howe’s Newcastle took the lead courtesy of a fine early strike from Jacob Murphy but Lucas Paqueta levelled and an own goal from the unfortunate Sven Botman gave the home team the advantage at half-time.

Howe made wholesale changes at the break to revitalise his off-colour side and Newcastle dominated possession in the early stages, pinning West Ham back.

But the visitors were blunt in attack and Tomas Soucek made sure of all three points in the closing moments.

Paqueta told Sky Sports: “I think today we have shown our character. We played positively and stayed focused on the game. In the end, three points was going to be hard. But we had to stay together and keep going.”

It is West Ham’s first win at home in the Premier League since February, while defeat leaves Newcastle 13th in the table.

Nuno was appointed West Ham boss in late September, just over two weeks after he was sacked by Nottingham Forest, who are also in the drop zone.

But the Portuguese has had to be patient in waiting for his first win.

Meanwhile, Wolverhampton Wanderers sacked head coach Vitor Pereira on Nov 2 after failing to win any of their opening 10 Premier League games.

Pereira signed a new three-year deal in September after guiding Wolves to safety last season.

However, a return of just two points so far this campaign has put the club’s top-flight status at serious risk.

A 3-0 defeat at Fulham on Nov 1 left Wolves eight points adrift of safety at the bottom of the table.

“Wolves have parted company with head coach Vitor Pereira, after a winless start to the 2025-26 season,” the club said in a statement.

“Upon his arrival at Molineux last December, Pereira and his coaches made an immediate impact, guiding the team to a successful second half of the Premier League campaign.

“However, results and performances this term have fallen below acceptable standards, and as a result a change in leadership was deemed necessary.”

After finishing 16th last season, Pereira had to cope with losing talismanic forward Matheus Cunha to Manchester United, while fullbacks Rayan Ait-Nouri and Nelson Semedo also departed in the close season for Manchester City and Fenerbahce respectively.

Fan frustration has been building towards the club’s Chinese owners Fosun for some time over a perceived lack of investment in the squad.

Pereira becomes the fourth Premier League manager to be axed this season, joining Nuno (Forest), Graham Potter (West Ham) and Ange Postecoglou (Forest).
REUTERS, AFP