Leeds beat West Ham to go six points clear of bottom three

Leeds United claimed their third Premier League victory of the season by beating West Ham United 2-1 at Elland Road, as Nuno Espirito Santo’s wait for a first win in charge of the visitors stretched to four matches.

The tale of the tape was written in the first 15 minutes on Friday, with quick-fire goals from Brenden Aaronson and Joe Rodon doing the damage for the hosts.

Aaronson tucked the ball home from close range early on before Rodon rose highest to head Sean Longstaff’s inviting corner past Alphonse Areola.

West Ham threatened a nervy final four minutes of stoppage time when substitute Mateus Fernandes glanced in a fine header, but Leeds were able to hold on for the three points.

Leeds’ victory moves them up to 13th in the table ahead of the rest of the weekend’s action. West Ham, meanwhile, remain in the relegation zone on four points.

How the match unfolded

Just three minutes had elapsed before Areola was picking the ball out of the net. The West Ham goalkeeper brilliantly saved Noah Okafor's back-post header, only for Aaronson to follow up and beat him on the rebound.

Having seen Jarrod Bowen’s spectacular bicycle-kick saved at the other end, the Hammers' troubles deepened in the 15th minute when another corner-kick proved to be their undoing; this time Rodon was in position to head the ball into the bottom-left corner.

Lucas Paqueta thought he had reduced the arrears, when he thundered the ball in off the crossbar just after the half-hour mark, but the flag went up to indicate the Brazilian did so from an offside position.

The second half provided few clear-cut chances, with Aaronson coming closest to another goal after his driving run ended with a deflected shot looping over Areola onto the crossbar.

But West Ham reduced the deficit in the 90th minute when Bowen’s delivery was brilliantly glanced in by Fernandes, though it proved in vain for the out-of-form Hammers.

Elland Road bouncing again

Having seen their 23-game unbeaten league run at Elland Road ended by Tottenham Hotspur last time out, Leeds were aiming not to lose consecutive home league matches for the first time since May 2024, and they did so with relative ease.

Their red-hot start perhaps merited more than the two goals they scored, with Ao Tanaka firing a glorious chance over from just outside the box, before a last-ditch challenge from Maximilian Kilman stopped Aaronson from getting his brace.

Not wanting to rest on their already comfortable advantage, Okafor, curled a fine strike narrowly wide of Areola’s far post. The visiting goalkeeper was then on hand to thwart Jayden Bogle’s near-post attempt, after the full-back linked up nicely with the influential Aaronson.

But for all of their attacking promise in the first half, Leeds struggled to carve out more clear opportunities in the second. It was Aaronson's deflected effort that sparked the home faithful back into life, as they looked to build real daylight between themselves and the bottom three.

They defended brilliantly throughout, but were denied a third clean sheet of the season when Fernandes picked out the bottom-left corner with his header late on. The visitors' goal mattered little for Leeds, who travel to Brighton & Hove Albion for their next Premier League assignment on 1 November.

Hammers hindered by individual errors

Ahead of kick-off, Nuno acknowledged the wholesale improvements West Ham needed to halt their recent slump. However, they failed to come to fruition as his wait for a first win in charge of the Hammers goes on.

They got off to the worst possible start, when Aaronson finished past Areola, before Rodon doubled Leeds’ advantage. What will frustrate Nuno the most is the ease with which Daniel Farke’s team were able to race in front.

Ollie Scarles was caught napping at the back post for the opener, before Rodon was easily able to run off Paqueta to score, as West Ham conceded from yet another set-piece.

A few moments at the other end offered hope of a comeback with Bowen, who had earlier forced Lucas Perri into a save with his acrobatic effort, dragging a shot wide before he crossed for Tomas Soucek, who should have done better with his close-range header.

West Ham have never won a Premier League game when trailing by two or more goals at half-time, and they showed few signs of bucking that trend, with Callum Wilson’s ambitious 74th-minute flick being the closest they came before Fernandes’ late consolation.

Things do not get any easier for West Ham, with Newcastle United the visitors to London Stadium next Sunday.

Club reports

Leeds report | West Ham report

What the managers said

Daniel Farke: "First of all, I'm delighted to take the three points. It is difficult to explain how we were standing there after the last three games with one point. We had much more domination and controlled the performance. We had a difficult week, in terms of illnesses and injuries.

"It was a difficult week for us. You could feel it. We showed passion and bravery.

"In the last 20 minutes you could feel it was a difficult week. A big fighting spirit, will and passion to bring it over the line."

Nuno Espirito Santo: "It's a simple explanation. We didn't deal with the problems. We didn't deal with many things. We have to work hard and be much better. I feel the players want to, but they switch off in many moments."

Next PL fixtures

Key facts 

West Ham’s haul of just four points from their first nine games of the Premier League season is their joint-worst return ever at this stage of a league campaign, also picking up just four in the second tier in 1932/33 and in 1973/74 in the top flight (both using three points for a win).

This was Leeds United's first Premier League victory against a London club since beating Chelsea 3-0 at Elland Road in August 2022, ending a 16-game winless run against sides from the capital in the competition (two draws, 14 losses).

West Ham have conceded nine goals from corners in the Premier League this season, triple the amount of any other side (Aston Villa, Fulham and Leeds all on three) while it’s the most of any side in the history of the competition after the opening nine games.

At 58 minutes and five seconds long, the first half of this game was the third longest in the Premier League on record (since 2006/07), only shorter than Brentford v Wolves on 22 January 2022 (71m 29s) and Fulham v Sheffield United on 7 October 2023 (60m 17s).