Santo was impressed by two West Ham playersplaceholder image
Santo was impressed by two West Ham players | AFP via Getty Images
West Ham picked up a huge win on Sunday, defeating Newcastle United to land a rare victory.
West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo has picked out two players he was impressed by in Sunday’s big win over Newcastle United. The Hammers won 3-1 despite going behind, and it was the kind of win they were desperate for as they look to spark some sort of momentum in a season that has, so far, had very little.
Santo has struggled to turn things around early in his time at the club, but Sunday’s win gave the fans a reason to believe that the Iron can successfully fight against relegation this season.
Lucas Paquetá and Tomas Soucek scored the West Ham goals, either side of an own goal, but West Ham boss Santo was impressed with two different players. “I think Freddie and Mateus did a good game,” said Santo.
“The idea was to try and control the middle against Newcastle because they have Bruno (Guimaraes), they have Joelinton, they have some quality players. If you allow them to play free, they're going to put you against the road, so realising that you had to work very hard was good and the young guys did it.
“It was important to see that we were suffering but not conceding. We were being resilient without the ball, realising that if we are organised it's hard to beat us. So it’s a small step in the way we had to improve.”
The win is not enough to get West Ham out of the bottom three, with the Hammers now three points from safety, while it’s not enough to make anyone believe that the Iron will go on a long winning run.
But its a key building block towards picking up form, and Santo knows it. “It was a very important win for all of us at the club,” added the Portuguese boss. “The way the game started, we started really well. We hit the post in a fantastic move, then they go back on the counter and they score.
“It felt like everything again was against us. We had a penalty overruled. But the team kept going, the boys kept working very hard, organised and playing good. I think there were moments before [we scored] the [first] goal that we felt that the goal was there and truly deserved.
“I think we achieved the draw and then the second goal because the ambition was there. That's for us the most important aspect of the game, the way we reacted against adversity.”
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