Nuno Espirito Santo: West Ham Relegation Battle “Will Go Down to the Wire”

Hammers two points above drop zone after heavy defeat

Nuno says West Ham relegation fight “will go down to the wire” after Brentford loss.

Igor Thiago, Mikkel Damsgaard and a Mavropanos own goal gave Brentford a 3-0 win over West Ham...

West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo said the fight to stay up is set for a tight finish after a 3-0 loss to Brentford on Saturday.

Igor Thiago, Mikkel Damsgaard, and a Konstantinos Mavropanos own goal gave Brentford the win and boosted their Champions League hopes.

The defeat leaves West Ham two points above the drop zone, with a potential fall back into it if Tottenham beat Aston Villa on Sunday. Speaking to BBC Match of the Day, Nuno said he expects the relegation race to go right to the final weeks.

“I stand here honest and trying to speak to you about what I saw,” he said.

“Brentford is a very good team but the way we react and play the first half, hitting the post, having a goal disallowed for a tight margin, it gives us hope at half-time. But the penalty hurts us and after that it becomes an old situation with the rush.

“But it's up to us how we react to a tough loss today. (The penalty) It hurt us; it goes against what we wanted in the half-time talk. Unfortunately, we conceded from a penalty, which could have been avoided.

“It's up to us how we will react to the situation and noise. Let's stick together. We have three games to go. It will go down to the wire, the last game. We have to stick together.”

Nuno gives his verdict on the afternoon's loss ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/cyLatCU4e1

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