Nuno Espírito Santo has backed Mohamadou Kanté after the West Ham midfielder went from comeback hero to being sent off during Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Millwall.
Kanté came off the bench at half-time and completely changed the game at The Den.
The 20-year-old pulled West Ham back into the derby with a superb long-range strike before Konstantinos Mavropanos headed home the equaliser six minutes later.
However, Kanté’s afternoon ended with a straight red card in the 89th minute after he brought down Kyrell Lisbie as the Millwall substitute raced through on goal.
The dismissal means Kanté is now set to miss West Ham’s next Championship fixture against QPR through suspension.
Nuno backs Kanté despite ‘big mistake’
Nuno admitted Kanté created the problem himself by losing control of the situation, but the West Ham boss still defended the youngster’s decision to stop Lisbie.
Speaking to ITV after full-time, Nuno said Kanté had made a “big mistake” initially but insisted the midfielder then had to deal with the danger he had created.
The Portuguese coach also stressed that Kanté is still learning after making such a dramatic impact from the bench.
That assessment feels fair after an extraordinary 45-minute cameo.
Kanté was arguably West Ham’s most important player after half-time, scoring the goal that changed the entire momentum of the game.
His performance was one of the major reasons the Hammers recovered from the dreadful opening half covered in our Millwall 2-2 West Ham match report.
Kanté suspension creates fresh West Ham midfield issue
The red card now creates an unwanted selection problem for Nuno.
West Ham are already managing several fitness concerns, with Joël Veltman ruled out of the Millwall game and Tomáš Souček only recently returning towards full fitness.
Kanté had strengthened his case for more minutes with his second-half impact at The Den.
Our West Ham player ratings against Millwall reflected that influence, with the midfielder receiving one of the highest marks despite his late dismissal.
Instead, Nuno will now have to plan without him for the next league game.
That is particularly frustrating because Kanté offered exactly what West Ham had been missing during the first half.
He played forward quickly, carried the ball with aggression and gave Millwall’s midfield far more to think about.
West Ham must learn from chaotic derby
The sending-off also summed up the wider afternoon.
West Ham went from being completely overwhelmed to looking capable of winning the game, only to finish the contest with ten men.
National reports described Kanté’s dismissal as a professional foul after Lisbie broke through late on, with West Ham ultimately surviving the closing stages to earn a point.
Nuno will take encouragement from the response after half-time.
However, the manager will also know West Ham cannot continue creating such difficult situations for themselves.
Kanté showed both sides of his game in one remarkable afternoon.
His goal demonstrated why Nuno rates him so highly.
His mistake and dismissal showed how much he still has to learn.
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