West Ham's promotion bid took another heavy blow at the London Stadium, as goals from Felix Horn Myhre, Jimmy-Jay Morgan and Callum Styles gave West Bromwich Albion a deserved 3-1 Championship win and left Nuno Espirito Santo facing boos from his own supporters.
The Hammers, the pre-season promotion favourites, have now lost back-to-back home games and shipped six goals across the two defeats, following last weekend's 3-2 loss to Southampton. This one left them eighth in the table, six points behind leaders Middlesbrough, while a slick Albion side climbed into fourth in front of 3,000 travelling fans.
Myhre strikes, Bowen answers — then the boos start
West Ham have now fallen behind in nine of their last 15 games, and the pattern held again. After Mohammadou Kante had an early shot deflected over, Isaac Price carved the home defence open on 20 minutes and Morgan's low centre was turned in from point-blank range by the unmarked Myhre.
Price should have doubled the lead from eight yards, and West Ham made him pay. Captain Jarrod Bowen levelled nine minutes later, his shot deflecting off Styles and in at the near post for his seventh goal of the season.
It bought no goodwill. The home crowd booed West Ham off at half-time anyway — a verdict on the performance, not the scoreline — and, as Yardbarker reported, the frustration only grew after the break.
Morgan and Styles finish the job
Albion were back in front within three minutes of the restart. Myhre cushioned Price's left-wing cross into the path of Morgan, who fired his fourth goal of the season across Mads Hermansen.
Max O'Leary kept out efforts from Max Kilman and Kyle Walker-Peters at the other end, but West Ham's afternoon unravelled completely when Walker-Peters limped off with a thigh injury after Nuno had already used all five substitutes. Within two minutes, Price's corner was only half-cleared and Styles crashed in a fierce, deflected shot from 20 yards to make it 3-1.
After that, West Ham barely threatened. Substitute Taty Castellanos directed a bicycle kick straight at O'Leary in added time, and that was the sum of the comeback.
So what — the promotion race is slipping away
The numbers around West Ham are turning ugly. Leaders Middlesbrough won again on Saturday, Will Lankshear scoring twice in a 3-0 win over Charlton to take his tally to 13 league goals in 13 appearances, and Boro's unbeaten run now stands at 11 matches. The full Championship roundup shows a top of the table pulling away while West Ham slide the other way.
Nuno was already under pressure before this game, and a second straight home defeat — with the crowd turning at half-time and again at full-time — makes Wednesday's trip to Cardiff City feel enormous. Win there and the noise drops. Lose, and the question stops being about promotion form and starts being about the manager himself. Albion, meanwhile, host Southampton on Tuesday with the play-off places in their hands.
Beyond the Final Whistle: A promotion favourite does not get booed off at half-time while drawing — it gets booed off because the crowd can see where the season is heading. Bowen is doing his part with seven goals, but West Ham are conceding first, conceding cheaply and conceding at home, and no system survives that for long. Nuno needs a result at Cardiff, not another explanation.
Can Nuno turn this around, or is West Ham's season already drifting beyond him? Have your say in the comments.
