West Ham ended up being grateful for a point despite throwing away a 2-0 half-time lead in a draw against a Bournemouth side missing a host of key players.
The likes of Antoine Semenyo and Justin Kluivert were missing for the Cherries to give the Hammers hope of a positive result at the Vitality.
Particularly as West Ham went into the game off the back of consecutive wins while Bournemouth had lost their last two, shipping seven goals in the process.
Nuno Espirito Santo did have his own problems, though.
Lucas Paqueta was suspended while Crysencio Summerville was a shock name missing from the West Ham team sheet.
Nuno changed to a back five with Igor Julio and Luis Guilherme replacing Paqueta and Summerville.
Guilherme got big West Ham chance
Guilherme showed why he has had so few chances, though, as he flopped with a clear lack of power and strength.
West Ham did manage to get themselves in front, though, Callum Wilson scoring two brilliantly taken first half goals against his old side.
The Hammers led 2-0 at half-time and looked well on course for a third win on the bounce.
But by the full-time whistle West Ham were not only grateful to secure a 2-2 draw but extremely fortunate too.
Nuno was indebted to Alphonse Areola, who had the game of his life, making 10 saves as the Cherries laid siege on West Ham’s goal.
Having registered an assist for Wilson’s first goal, Areola made a bit of Premier League history with his outstanding numbers as he stopped West Ham losing by five or six in the end.
But while the 10/10 star man rose to the occasion, Nuno’s costly clangers on the touchline proved decisive.
When Nuno first arrived he impressed everyone with his words and actions.
Team selection and tactics for games at Everton and Arsenal made sense and gave the Hammers a foundation to build from.
But the Portuguese seemed to take leave of his senses when he made a series of bizarre, curve-ball decisions and team selections in defeats to Brentford and Leeds.
Nuno’s decision-making raises West Ham eyebrows again
Sanity was restored for the victories over Newcastle and Burnley.
But Nuno has raised eyebrows again with his decision-making in the 2-2 draw at Bournemouth.
Given the Cherries were so understrength, the Hammers should have been seeing the game out with a 2-0 half-time lead.
Guilherme was given his big chance with Summerville out injured.
But the young winger flopped badly, showing why three successive managers have barely used him.
Guilherme’s lack of strength and propensity to give the ball away cheaply saw him hooked at half-time with a full-back replacing him in the shape of Kyle Walker-Peters.
Only Nuno knows what he was thinking, though, when he substituted Wilson on 51 minutes with the striker on a hat-trick.
The only reason West Ham found themselves in front was because of Wilson’s instinctive finishes. He was in the zone and clearly a threat even if he wasn’t involved in the all-round play as much as the manager might like.
It was a strange call which did not go down well with Wilson or the West Ham fans.
Tomas Soucek came on as an auxiliary striker but this week it simply did not work at all.
West Ham completely lost any control of the game for the remainder of the second half and should have lost by a landslide in the end with Bournemouth peppering Areola’s goal constantly.
Nuno then rubbed salt in the wound by taking off arguably West Ham’s best player and their only legs in midfield when he subbed off Mateus Fernandes.
Here are the full player ratings from a match which gave new meaning to the saying ‘a game of two halves’.
10/10 Areola let down by Nuno clangers as Guilherme flops
Alphonse Areola, 10: West Ham’s best player, the man of the match and one of the best performances of the Frenchman’s career.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 7.5: Back to something like his best and made some important tackles to stop West Ham losing.
Max Kilman, 4: Was doing well until he gave away the penalty then was found wanting as has too often been the case this season and last.
Igor Julio, 6: Not bad on his debut and made a host of vital blocks and clearances. Made a mistake which nearly cost West Ham the game but overall solid enough.
Jean-Clair Todibo, 8.5: West Ham’s second best player on the day, marshalled the dangerous Evanilson almost flawlessly. Todibo has been much better of late, putting in performances more befitting a £32m defender. Got an assist too when he nodded the ball to Wilson.
El Hadji Malick Diouf, 8: Very good, particularly in the first half. Put in some outstanding crosses, one of which resulted in Wilson’s second goal.
Freddie Potts, 6: After winning plaudits in the victories over Newcastle and Burnley, this goes down as a poor game by Potts’ standards. He started really well in the first half but faded badly and was chasing shadows in the second half. But his energy and enthusiasm is exactly what West Ham need.
Mateus Fernandes, 8.5: Another impressive performance from the Portuguese all-rounder. Bizarrely subbed off when he was needed most.
Jarrod Bowen, 7: The captain was nowhere near his brilliant best but is much easier to mark and contain when West Ham don’t have other threats for the opposition to worry about such as Lucas Paqueta and Crysencio Summerville.
Luis Guilherme, 3: Really poor and weak. Yes Guilherme is still young but Nuno warned players they need to be ready when they get their chances and the Brazilian simply wasn’t.
Callum Wilson, 9: Did not do much else but goals are the currency in football and he scored with two excellent, instinctive strikes out of nothing. Should not have been subbed off so early, it cost West Ham the win.
Subs:
Walker-Peters, 6: Did better than Guilherme but shows West Ham’s woeful lack of depth that he was Nuno’s only option.
Tomas Soucek, 4: Big Czech struggled after some success as a super sub in recent weeks.
Niclas Fullkrug, 1: Nothing short of an embarrassment. Looked like a fan had been pulled from the crowd and put in a West Ham shirt. Walked around and offered nothing while looking completely disinterested.
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