West Ham United coach Nuno Espirito Santo said his side took a “big step” toward Premier League survival with a 4-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Friday, which dropped Tottenham Hotspur into the Premier League relegation zone.
The result took took West Ham out of the drop zone for the first time since December and left their London rivals in the bottom three for the first time this season.
– De Zerbi keen to replicate Angeball at Spurs
– Onuoha: How players really approach a relegation battle
– Weekend predictions: Arsenal to rebound, Barcelona to win derby
West Ham had looked set for the Championship after losing at home to Nottingham Forest in January. Defeat to their relegation rivals left them winless in 10 and seven points adrift of safety, but five victories in the 11 games since, together with Spurs’ apparent free fall, have put a radically different complexion on the picture at the bottom.
“We are extremely happy,” Nuno said. “All of us deserve an evening like this, especially our fans. London Stadium was amazing; it was bouncing with energy even in the hard parts when the game was tough.
“I realise there is still a lot of work to be done yet. We made a big step today, which was important for us, but nothing has changed.”
Valentín Castellanos scored twice in three minutes midway through the second half after Konstantinos Mavropanos put the Hammers 1-0 up with a header just before halftime.
Konstantinos completed the scoring seven minutes from time with an acrobatic volley from a corner kick.
Wolves remained at the bottom of the league and are almost certain to be relegated.
The result threw West Ham’s revival under Nuno into sharp focus. The reverse fixture at Molineux in January was arguably the lowest point of the team’s season as they went down 3-0 to become the first team to lose to Rob Edwards’ side.
Defeat to Nottingham Forest followed but since then the team have not looked back.
“I hope [the best result] is still in front of us,” said Nuno. “That afternoon was tough at Wolves for everybody at the club. Today we changed the dynamic.”
Tottenham still have a game in hand over West Ham in the battle to beat the drop but are now facing the unthinkable prospect of dropping into England’s second tier for the first time since 1977.
It means new Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi will begin his tenure away to Sunderland on Sunday looking upwards at the dotted line.
The Associated Press and PA contributed to this report.
