- West Ham lost 3-1 to Newcastle on Sunday early evening
- The Hammers remain in the relegation zone
- Nuno Espirito Santo has apologised for the performance that could relegate the club
West Ham United succumbed to Newcastle United 3-1 at St James’ Park. The Hammers conceded three before replying with a consolation goal through Valentín Castellanos, but their second-best efforts – a third straight defeat – put the club on the brink of relegation.
Nuno Espirito Santo told the club’s official website after the game that he was apologetic for his team’s perfomrance, but they have to keep going until the final day.
“I apologise to our fans.
“They showed their frustration and with reason when they see a team that doesn’t make them proud.
“It’s right, it’s right and today we didn’t make ourselves or them proud.
“This week, more than ever, it is going to be required to finish the season with dignity, with respect for the club.
Poor start left West Ham fighting a losing battle, like much of their season
Nuno spoke in a defeated tone, with the current situation firmly out of West Ham’s hands. Their relegation rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, are in action on Tuesday night against Chelsea. If Spurs were to win, they would relegate West Ham, and even a draw would all but do the job given their significant advantage on goal difference.
The Newcastle defeat was typified by an extremely poor start, which gave the hosts the initiative and, as with much of the Hammers’ season, left them fighting a losing battle.
“We started the game really badly. The way we conceded and the spaces that we gave to Newcastle players made our task really, really hard.
“The team reacted with some chances, but we started the game really bad again.
“It’s been like this recently, not being clinical enough to try and take advantage of our chances, but we realise that it was not a good performance.
“We’re going to work hard, see what can happen on Tuesday [at Chelsea]. If it’s possible [to stay up], we’ll give it a go, but realising that it’s really hard.”
“Our final match of the season [against Leeds] is going to be in London Stadium and we owe it to our fans to show a better performance.”
