West Ham United finally found the defensive performance Nuno Espírito Santo had been waiting for as Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Derby County delivered their first competitive clean sheet of the season. After conceding in each of their opening six matches, the Hammers did not allow Derby a single shot on target at London Stadium.
The improvement was significant because West Ham’s defensive record had threatened to undermine an increasingly dangerous attack.
Nuno’s side had conceded against Portsmouth, Burnley, Charlton Athletic, Southampton, Watford and Wolves before finally shutting the door against Derby. West Ham’s official results list shows they had shipped nine goals across those opening six competitive fixtures.
That sequence finally ended on Saturday.
West Ham clean sheet gives Nuno exactly what he wanted
West Ham did far more than simply survive Derby pressure.
The visitors finished with no shots on target and only 0.10 expected goals, while Nuno’s side generated 3.06 xG at the opposite end. Our West Ham 3-0 Derby match report highlighted how much more controlled the performance became compared with Tuesday’s chaotic 4-2 victory over Wolves.
Nuno acknowledged the importance of that defensive improvement in his post-match comments to Sky Sports.
“We didn’t give them too many chances, which is really positive.”
The West Ham head coach added that achieving a clean sheet should improve confidence within his squad.
That matters.
West Ham had already shown they can score goals. They struck four against Southampton in the Carabao Cup, another four against Wolves and three against Derby.
The bigger question was whether Nuno could build enough defensive control for those goals to consistently translate into victories.
Saturday offered the clearest evidence yet.
Joël Veltman underlines importance of Derby shutout
Joël Veltman’s return to the starting XI also gave Nuno a more experienced option on the right side of defence.
The former Brighton defender played the full 90 minutes alongside Konstantinos Mavropanos, Max Kilman and Ollie Scarles as Derby struggled to create meaningful opportunities.
West Ham have since released a new Veltman interview titled “A clean sheet was what we needed”, underlining how highly the players themselves valued finally keeping an opponent out.
It follows Nuno’s own positive reaction after the game, with the manager also praising the impact of his substitutes in our full post-Derby press conference story.
Two consecutive Championship victories have quickly changed the mood around London Stadium.
The next task is proving Saturday was not an isolated defensive performance.
West Ham travel to Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday before hosting Wrexham on Friday, with every game available through our permanently updated West Ham fixtures and results guide.
If the Hammers can combine the attacking threat shown over the last week with the defensive control produced against Derby, Nuno may finally have the foundations of the side he has been trying to build.
