𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Nuno Espirito Santo walked to his seat in the technical area, sat down, and only proceeded to lift his head in acknowledgment of West Ham United’s penalty shootout win over Brentford once loud cheers reverberated around the London Stadium.

The stress of seeing his side advance to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup — the first time West Ham have reached this stage since losing to Manchester United in March 2016 — and a date with Leeds United was too much for the head coach. It was only after club captain Jarrod Bowen, Taty Castellanos, Callum Wilson, Tomas Soucek and Konstantinos Mavropanos immaculately converted their penalties in front of the Sir Trevor Brooking Stand that Nuno could breathe again, walking onto the pitch to embrace his players.

Moments prior, Mavropanos ran into the arms of goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, who saved Dango Ouattara’s dreadful Panenka penalty in the 5-3 shootout win, while Axel Disasi, the loanee from Chelsea, led the charge from the halfway line to their team-mates.

The pressure may have been intense, but West Ham were prepared. Before the shootout, Nuno gathered the players in a huddle and gave a motivational speech. Goalkeeping coach Rui Barbosa and Areola re-emerged from the tunnel, with Barbosa putting a piece of paper in his pocket.

“I’ve been told (the penalties we took were good, but) I didn’t see them,” he told West Ham’s official website. “What I saw was during three days before the game, the boys had time to practise, and then comes the moment. You know that the stress is different, but I believe that they were ready to do their job and they did it amazingly.”

Alphonse Areola saves Dango Ouattara’s Panenka penalty (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

This was more proof that the recent resurgence under Nuno is genuine. West Ham have only lost two of their last 11 games across all competitions. Before their third-round extra-time victory over London rivals Queens Park Rangers on January 11, their last win had come against Burnley in November.

The positivity is spreading through players who had looked broken in the depths of winter, having been seven points adrift of safety when they lost at home to Nottingham Forest on January 6, with just 14 points.

“This season has been really tough, but for the last two months, it’s become really great, with all the good results in the Premier League,” Soucek told The Athletic following Monday’s win. “But now, even in the FA Cup, we’re going step by step and we are so happy that we went through, because for us, for our fans, for everyone who works for West Ham, this adds to the momentum. 

“The team is settled under the manager. We know how we want to play and we know what West Ham means to us. We want to win the fight of relegation, we want to win the FA Cup, and we want to play for our fans, so we have all this spirit, all this momentum. I can see the faces of the players, from the staff, from everyone, that we are so happy to see each other. It wasn’t like that much before, but we changed it, and we can show it on the pitch now. 

“We prepared for the penalties before this match because we know that it could come. My group did it yesterday very well, so we showed it again today.”

Juggling FA Cup and Premier League commitments will be a challenge, but it is a better problem to have than having to heal wounds caused by a deflating cup exit. Nuno made seven changes to the side that defeated Fulham last week, with Areola, Kyle Walker-Peters, Ollie Scarles, Mavropanos, Mohamadou Kante, Adama Traore, and Pablo Felipe, who has recovered from a calf injury, returning to the starting XI.

Nuno cut his usual agitated figure on the sidelines (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Pablo made his first appearance since the away win against Burnley on February 7, academy prospect Kante impressed on his rare start in midfield, and Jarrod Bowen’s brace in the 90 minutes was the first time he had scored twice in the same game since his first career hat-trick, against Brentford, in February 2024.

There was just one concern — the sight of Crysencio Summerville limping off the field as the rest of his team-mates applauded the four corners of the London Stadium after the final whistle. The winger sustained a knock in the second half of extra time, causing Nuno to kick the turf in frustration. A member of the medical team massaged Summerville’s left calf before he re-entered the field, playing through the rest of the game as Nuno had made all his substitutions.

Summerville has emerged as a pivotal figure for West Ham, having scored seven goals in his last 13 games. Nuno did not elaborate on his condition post-match, but he did seem to be walking more freely when he left the ground. Any possibility of advancing to the semi-finals of the FA Cup, for the first time since the 2005-06 season, and sealing Premier League survival hinges on his ability to remain fit.

Attention now turns to Saturday’s encounter with Premier League title-chasers Manchester City. West Ham lost the return fixture 3-0 in December, but this is an improved team, with newfound confidence and renewed optimism about avoiding relegation.

“With all due respect to City, they are one of the best teams in the world, but with our belief, we are approaching that game now with a winning mentality,” Soucek said. “We want to show that we are a tough team to play against. I believe that we can make miracles.”