West Ham United suffered a damaging 2-1 defeat to Charlton Athletic at the London Stadium despite Joël Piroe scoring on his full debut.
Lloyd Jones and Tyreece Campbell put the visitors two goals ahead before Piroe gave Nuno Espírito Santo’s side hope, but Valentín Castellanos then missed a late penalty as West Ham’s search for a first Championship victory continued.
West Ham punished by clinical Charlton
Nuno handed full debuts to Piroe and Arne Engels after both arrived during the past week, as confirmed in West Ham’s official starting XI announcement.
Piroe replaced the injured Pablo in attack, while Engels came into midfield. ReadWestHam had assessed the selection decisions in our West Ham XI against Charlton before kick-off.
Charlton needed only seven minutes to stun the London Stadium. Centre-back Lloyd Jones produced an overhead kick to beat Mads Hermansen and give the visitors an early lead.
West Ham went into half-time 1-0 behind and Nuno reacted immediately, introducing Lewis Orford for Mohamadou Kanté.
The response failed to prevent Charlton extending their advantage. Campbell found the bottom corner in the 56th minute to make it 2-0, with boos greeting the goal from sections of the home support.
The Guardian’s live coverage reported both Charlton goals as the visitors punished West Ham at crucial moments.
Nuno made further changes after Konstantinos Mavropanos suffered an injury, with Joël Veltman replacing the defender and Divine Mukasa introduced for Ollie Scarles.
Piroe scores but Castellanos passes up late chance
Piroe finally gave West Ham a route back into the contest in the 74th minute.
The new No.9 converted from close range to score on his full debut, giving the London Stadium belief that a late comeback remained possible.
It was exactly the impact West Ham hoped to get from a forward who arrived from Leeds United this week following a prolific spell in the Championship.
Castellanos then received the opportunity to rescue a point from the penalty spot late on, but the Argentine failed to convert.
West Ham could not manufacture another equaliser and Charlton held on for all three points.
The result leaves Nuno’s side without a league win after their opening two Championship fixtures. West Ham also surrendered a two-goal advantage in last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Burnley, leaving them with just one point from a possible six.
Piroe’s debut goal provides one clear positive, but a home defeat to Charlton places immediate pressure on West Ham to improve ahead of their next league assignment.
