Aaronson and Rodon punish woeful West Ham as Leeds race to victory
Will Unwin
Date published: Fri 24 Oct 2025 22.13 BST

Perhaps taking an extended holiday after being sacked by Nottingham Forest would have been a more sensible next step for Nuno Espirito Santo. Rather than being on a peaceful cruise, he is captaining a sinking ship with his West Ham defenders playing their role by being all at sea in defeat by Leeds.

Brenden Aaronson and Joe Rodon were allowed space in the box to put Leeds two up within a quarter of an hour. Leeds faded in the second half, offering West Ham a chance to fight back but the visitors lacked quality in the final third and could muster only a late consolation goal through Manuel Fernandes. The defeat leaves West Ham second bottom of the Premier League nine games into their worst start to a season in 52 years, and their only win came against their current head coach.

Elland Road was rocking as the third minute arrived. The Hammers' vulnerability was already clear. A deep Jayden Bogle cross was headed along the six-yard line and Aaronson was the only one to react, while the Hammers defenders were all inevitably stood in the wrong place. Nuno is known for being able to organise a defence, so he will be deeply worried by the confusion suffered when trying to guard their own goal.

The chants of "Sack the board" had already started in the away end by the time Sean Longstaff's 15th-minute corner found Rodon unmarked five yards from goal, thanks to Lucas Paqueta's dismal attempt at staying tight. It was another case of players failing to do basic defensive duties as neither claret-and-blue centre-back attacked the ball. Nuno turned away, looking deep in thought as the Yorkshire rain pounded down.

"You have to face the reality of where we are: second bottom and we're in trouble now," the West Ham captain, Jarrod Bowen, said. "The only way this is going to change is if players step up, roll their sleeves up and get ready for the fight. We need more of that week in, week out. When things aren't going so well, it's easy to hide and be scared but as easy as it is to say, it's hard to do. We have to do that, that's my only mindset."

In the 25th minute, Ollie Scarles was replaced after a lengthy delay while medical staff dealt with what appeared to be a serious shoulder injury. Nuno sent on striker Callum Wilson to end the inverted full-backs experiment, in the desperate hope it could change the direction of the match.

West Ham began to show intent and Paqueta thought he had made some degree of amends for his non-marking when he rifled into the roof of the net after a Bogle clearance was blocked by Wilson into the Brazilian's path. The flag belatedly went up, followed by a bizarrely long video assistant referee check caused by technological failure - somewhat explaining the 13 minutes of added time in the first half - when it was clear Paqueta was offside.

The second half became a meek battle with a Leeds team dropping far too deep out of fear of conceding and a West Ham side devoid of confidence. The hosts ceded possession to West Ham, happy to wait to hit them on the counterattack.

Luring the Hammers into a false sense of security almost worked when Aaronson won the ball back deep in his own half and dribbled 60 yards to the edge of the opposition box, from where he thrashed a shot that was deflected on to the bar. What concerns Nuno? "Our approach to individual duels, our approach to defensive tactics, our confidence, so many things," the West Ham head coach said.

Leeds regularly released the pressure by launching passes up to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who had opted against taking the knee before kick-off, to relieve the almost constant pressure they had brought on themselves. Fernandes' 90th-minute headed flick was deserved and brought a level of intrigue to stoppage time but it was insufficient. "We had fighting will, passion and spirit to get it over the line," Daniel Farke, the Leeds manager, said. "The nerves began again but it was also good the confidence to bring it over the line. It was a priceless three points for us."

By being physical and aggressive, Leeds know what they are doing under Farke, who has been in charge for more than two years. Nuno has had only four matches but already knows the prospect of bringing calmer waters to east London will be very difficult. "I am worried since I have arrived, it is not something that surprised me," Nuno said. "I am worried but we are committed and embrace the challenge we have ahead of us."

SkySport Player ratings:
Leeds: Perri (7); Bogle (7), Rodon (8), Bijol (7), Gudmundsson (6); Ampadu (7), Longstaff (7), Tanaka (7); Aaronson (8), Okafor (7), Calvert-Lewin (6)
Subs: Justin (6), Harrison (6), Gruev (6), Nmecha (n/a), James (n/a)
West Ham: Areola (5); Scarles (3), Todibo (4), Kilman (4), Wan-Bissaka (5), Diouf (5); Soucek (4), Irving (4); Summerville (5), Bowen (6), Paqueta (5)
Subs: Wilson (5), Potts (6), Fernandes (6), Magassa (n/a), Walker-Peters (n/a)
Player of the Match: Joe Rodon (Leeds)
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