Nuno Espirito Santo saw his West Ham side score twice in added time to force extra-time only to lose their FA Cup quarter-final to Leeds United on penalties.
West Ham United boss Nuno saw the belief his side will need for the relegation run-in during an ultimately ill-fated FA Cup comeback against Leeds United.
The Hammers went 2-0 down thanks to goals from Ao Tanaka and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, before roaring back in time added on. Mateus Fernandes stuck in a rebound after Jarrod Bowen hit the post, then Alexi Disasi got his foot up to flick in Adama Traore's cross and level on 96 minutes. The sides could not be split in extra-time and in the subsequent penalty shootout Leeds came out on top, Lucas Perri making a pair of saves before Pascal Struijk fired in the winner.
But the comeback gave Nuno great encouragement for the relegation fight, he insisted.
"Sad ending, especially the way we reacted and chased it when everything seemed lost," he said. "The boys kept believing. Achieving a draw, the best chances, hit the post. Then comes the shootout. The previous round we were very proud in how efficient we were and came through a shootout."
Thousands of West Ham fans left the game with the score at 2-0 to Leeds and were denied re-entry, so missed the comeback. Nuno opted not to address that but praised his players for how they stuck to their task.
"What I saw on the pitch was more important than anything, a group of players who didn't give up," he said. "We cannot allow ourselves to give up. What we have in our hands, our mission, will require belief, character, handling the pressure. This is what I saw today, a group of boys who don't give up."
Both sides had important players missing through injury and both lost players during the game. For Leeds it was Anton Stach, Joe Rodon and Noah Okafor, while the Hammers' keeper Alphonse Areola limped off just before penalties to be replaced by 20-year-old Finlay Herrick.
"We expect to recover some of them," said Nuno. "Today they were not available. All the squad is needed, all the players have to be ready and work hard. The third goalkeeper coming in for such a decisive moment proves that nobody should ever ignore the need and the respect for our future. He was ready. He came in the game, he's very young but he plays for England. He's improving. It's up to us to try and improve him."
West Ham host Wolves on Friday night and face a race to recover in time after such a long and exhausting cup quarter-final. But they must move on quickly in order to win the battle to stay up.
"Today is gonna be a tough, sad evening but we cannot allow ourselves too much time in sorrow and sadness," said Nuno. "I really believe what we have ahead of us is much, much more important, so important. I tell the players let's recover and be ready for the fight. Today we go out with a lesson we learned, we don't give up. We'll keep going."
Continue Reading