Nuno Espírito Santo has admitted West Ham United still need to decide their penalty taker after Taty Castellanos missed from the spot in Saturday’s 2-1 Championship defeat to Charlton Athletic. The striker had the chance to rescue a point in stoppage time, but his effort struck the post.
West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen did not take the penalty despite his previous record from 12 yards, leaving questions over the decision after the final whistle.
Nuno reveals West Ham penalty uncertainty
Castellanos stepped forward after Conor Coventry handled Lewis Orford’s effort inside the Charlton penalty area late in the game.
The Argentine sent goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo the wrong way but struck the base of the post as Charlton held on for a 2-1 victory.
ReadWestHam covered the dramatic conclusion in our West Ham 1-2 Charlton match report.
Nuno has now explained why Castellanos took responsibility rather than Bowen.
Speaking after the match, the West Ham boss said: “We trust Taty to take the penalties.”
However, Nuno gave a far less certain answer when asked whether Castellanos would remain West Ham’s designated taker.
“I don’t know, for the next game we have to decide,” he said.
Roshane Thomas reported Nuno’s comments after the Charlton defeat.
The admission leaves an important set-piece decision unresolved ahead of West Ham’s Carabao Cup trip to Southampton on Tuesday night.
Castellanos endured a difficult ending against Charlton, while new signing Joël Piroe scored the Hammers’ only goal. Piroe’s finish also made him the 100th West Ham player to score on his debut.
Nuno later apologised to supporters and admitted his team had failed them, as covered in our post-match reaction from the West Ham head coach.
West Ham’s official post-match report confirms Castellanos’ late penalty struck the post after Piroe had pulled the Hammers back into the game.
West Ham now have little time to resolve the issue before their next competitive fixture.
