West Ham sank to a 3-0 defeat at Wolves, leaving Nuno Espirito Santo apologising for what was described as an embarrassing display, as the Premier League’s bottom side earned a first league win of the season with three first-half goals at Molineux.
The result extends West Ham’s winless Premier League run to nine matches, with four draws and five defeats during that sequence, and the team stays in the relegation zone, sitting four points behind 17th-place Nottingham Forest ahead of a crucial meeting at the London Stadium on Tuesday.
Nuno, who departed Nottingham Forest earlier this season, now holds an unwanted Premier League record, becoming the first manager to lose to sides starting the day bottom of the table with two different clubs in the same
campaign, having already suffered defeat against Forest in August 2025.
The loss at Wolves, a club Nuno managed between 2017 and 2021, deepened the pressure, as West Ham failed to register a single shot on target and rarely looked capable of troubling a team that had not previously recorded a league victory this season.
Match data from the afternoon underlined West Ham’s problems, with the visitors struggling in both attack and defence as Wolves took control before half-time and maintained that advantage with little resistance in the second period.
The setback also follows a pattern for Nuno across the last two seasons, highlighted by statistics that show teams starting 20th have twice built three-goal leads in Premier League matches against sides coached by Nuno during that spell.
2 - In the last two seasons, the only two times that the team in 20th position have led by 3+ goals in a Premier League match have both been against Nuno Esprito Santo. Nott'm Forest 0-3 West Ham (Aug 2025) Wolves 3-0 West Ham (Jan 2026) Painful. pic.twitter.com/jYT7KYEhTkOptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 3, 2026
"I have to apologise to the fans. We have to apologise to the fans, those that travelled today. It was embarrassing," he said. "There's not much I can say other than we are sorry,because what we showed today was not good enough. "
"We needed much more from our players. The way we started and the way we performed was very poor. It was embarrassing because I don't recall one day that I felt so bad on a football pitch like today. "
"It was a failure of many things, mistakes and not reacting to those mistakes, making mistakes and then a second mistake and, over and over again, not being able to control and create any situation of danger. I think we didn't achieve one shot on goal, so that says a lot.I am particularly sad to say this, but what I saw today from our players is not good enough. "
The focus now turns to Forest’s visit on 6 January 2026, with West Ham needing a response in what is likely to be described as a six-pointer in the fight against relegation, given the four-point gap and both clubs’ positions near the bottom of the Premier League table.
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