West Ham's survival hopes take a blow after defeat to Brentford
When Tomas Soucek's effort grazed a post in the final stages of West Ham's defeat at Brentford on Saturday, their supporters could have been forgiven for exchanging exasperated looks.
The 3-0 scoreline at Gtech Community Stadium may point to a comfortable victory for Keith Andrews' Europe-chasing side, but it tells only half the story.
West Ham struck the woodwork four times – a joint record in the Premier League this season – with Valentin Castellanos hitting a post either side of Konstantinos Mavropanos' first-half own goal, before Crysencio Summerville slammed a powerful drive against the crossbar with the score at 3-0.
Soucek was first to the rebound but guided his effort against the outside of a post.
Victory would have lifted West Ham five points clear of the bottom three, but instead they have left the door ajar for Tottenham to leapfrog them with victory at Aston Villa on Sunday.
The Hammers remain two points above Spurs, who have a game in hand and are nine goals healthier in terms of goal difference.
"We had chances, hit the post twice, hit the bar and post again," West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen told Sky Sports. "It's really disappointing.
"We had good opportunities. On another day we would have got the win. We've done a lot of good things."
Manager Nuno Espirito Santo told BBC Match of the Day: "It's up to us how we will react from this situation.
"Let's stick together. We have three games to go. It will go down to the wire."
West Ham are three points below in-form Nottingham Forest, after Leeds United moved nine points clear of Spurs with a win against Burnley on Friday.
A three-team battle for survival? It is beginning to look that way.
By the time Summerville and Soucek were denied by the frame of the goal, Brentford had added to their advantage thanks to Igor Thiago's second-half penalty and a composed finish from Mikkel Damsgaard.
At half-time, however, West Ham will have fancied their chances of forging a route back into the match.
Mavropanos thought he had made amends for his 15th-minute own goal when he headed home El-Hadji Malick Diouf's free-kick midway through the first half, but he was ruled to be just offside.
The unfortunate Castellanos forced a fine save out of Caoimhin Kelleher late in the first half when his stinging effort from the edge of the area was tipped over the bar.
But West Ham's hopes of a comeback were dealt a blow when Diouf scythed down Dango Ouattara six minutes into the second period and Thiago sent keeper Mads Hermansen the wrong way from the spot.
"The penalty hurts us," said Nuno, whose side had picked up 22 points from their previous 13 games. "It could be avoided. It goes against what we wanted in the half-time team talk.
"After that it becomes an old situation with the rush."
Things are not about to get any easier for West Ham, who welcome Arsenal to London Stadium on 10 May before travelling to Newcastle on 17 May.
"There's so much on the line," Bowen said. "We can't let the last few weeks go away because of this result today.
"We've got a really good group. We can't dwell on this. We have to move forward – there's no other way."
West Ham must react and perform better in final games – Nuno
If Spurs win at Villa Park it would leave them in the driving seat – just – to avoid the drop.
It would also leave West Ham hoping for a result against title-chasing Arsenal, who are six points clear at the top of the table and have plundered 11 goals on their previous two league visits to London Stadium.
After facing Villa, Tottenham's next game is at home to a Leeds side who have lost their past five league meetings with the north London club.
Although the form book often means little as the battle for survival reaches its climax, Brentford's win could prove pivotal for West Ham and Spurs.
In an interview with the West Ham website,, external Nuno urged his players to respond against Arsenal and called on the fans to play their part.
"Let's realise how we react from a bad day like today is going to keep us alive in the fight," he said.
"We have been asking our fans for their support and our fans are giving back. Today they are disappointed with us, but we need them more than ever."
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