Leeds beat struggling West Ham 2-1 in Premier League

AP

Leeds, Oct. 26: Nuno Espirito Santo became the first West Ham coach since 2018 to go winless in his first four games as his struggling team showed the same defensive frailties that have plagued it all season in a 2-1 loss to Leeds in the Premier League.

The Portuguese coach joined the Hammers a month ago after leading Nottingham Forest to a place in Europe but he has been unable to turn things around quickly in east London.

He now has three losses and one draw since taking over, a record equal to that of Manuel Pellegrini when he took charge of the club in 2018.

Off the field, supporters have expressed their discontent with the board, with thousands boycotting Monday night's loss at home to Brentford.

The team has defended poorly all season — conceding nine goals from corners, three times more than any other side — leading to the sacking of Graham Potter. And it was 2-0 down after just 15 minutes at Leeds thanks once again to hesitant defending.

Goalkeeper Alphonse Areola could not hold Noah Okafor's header after three minutes and U.S. international Brenden Aaronson pounced to sidefoot home the loose ball as the West Ham defenders watched on.

The back line was equally lackadaisical 12 minutes later when Joe Rodon headed home unchallenged from a corner kick.

Mateus Fernandes' deft header in the final minute gave the Hammers a consolation goal but an equalizer never looked likely.

The win lifts Leeds into 13th place on 11 points, while West Ham is 19th with four points and the league's worst goal difference.

That points tally is its joint worst at this stage of the season. Only in the 1932-33 and 1973-74 campaigns have the Hammers started as poorly as now.

"We're in a real situation and we have to face the reality of that," West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen told Sky Sports. "You have to face up to the reality of where we are and we're in trouble now.

"We have to go out there and fight more than anything. The Premier League is the hardest league. We're not playing well and not getting results. We need to change it. We're the only ones that can change it."

Meanwhile in Italy, Zachary Athekame scored with a long-range drive in injury time to rescue a 2-2 draw for Serie A leader AC Milan against bottom club Pisa and avoid what would have been the surprise result of the Italian league season so far.

Athekame was about 10 yards outside the area when the ball was played to him following a corner, but his low shot found its way through traffic and inside the near post to deny Pisa a first win at Milan 

since 1981.

The newly promoted side has yet to win a game since returning to the top tier this season after a 34-year absence.

Milan entered the game as a massive favorite and took the lead through Rafael Leão after just seven minutes, but Juan Cuadrado brought Pisa level when he scored from the penalty spot after an hour.

A massive shock looked likely after M'Bala Nzola controlled a long ball before stroking it under goalkeeper Mike Maignan to give Pisa the lead with five minutes left.

But Athekame's goal in the third minute of injury time meant AC Milan moved two points above Inter, Napoli and Roma ahead of the weekend's games.

The point lifts Pisa out of last place with four points from nine games, a point clear of Fiorentina and Genoa.

Likewise in Germany, Marco Grüll curled in left-foot shot in the 72nd minute to give Werder Bremen a 1-0 win over Union Berlin in the Bundesliga.

The win gave Bremen consecutive home victories for the first time this season and moved it into the top half of the table ahead of the weekend's other games.

In a game of few chances, Grüll's goal was a rare moment of beauty. The former Rapid Vienna winger cut in from the right before curling a shot into the far corner.

The win snapped Bremen's poor run of Friday night results. Horst Steffen's team had lost its last three Friday games, each time by at least three goals.

The result lifts it into seventh spot with 11 points, one point ahead of Berlin in 10th.

Likewise in Spain, a first-half double from captain Mikel Oyarzabal gave Real Sociedad a 2-1 win over Sevilla and lifted the Basque side out of the Spanish league relegation zone.

It was only the second win of the Spanish season for Sociedad, in front of a boisterous home crowd.

Oyarzabal put the hosts ahead with a penalty awarded after 19 minutes. Nemanja Gudelj brought Sevilla level in the 30th after a well-worked set piece. A free kick on the right flank was drilled across the edge of the box and Gudelj's low shot was deflected into the net.

However, Gudelj was partially at fault when Sociedad retook the lead at the tother end just six minutes later.

Miscommunication from a throw-in between him and José Ángel Carmona gifted Sociedad the ball and Oyarzabal turned neatly inside the box and drilled a low drive under the Sevilla keeper.

It was the forward's fourth goal of the season and lifts Sociedad into 14th with nine points from 10 games.

"It's a match that we've lost because of our mistakes," Gudelj said. "We have to fix the errors and we haven't done it."

Sevilla remains in ninth place with 13 points from the same number of matches.