By Conor Hogan

A crucial Ollie Scarles miskick cost West Ham a point at London Stadium, as the Hammers slipped to yet another Premier League defeat.

Nuno Espírito Santo’s side were beaten 1-0 by Fulham on Saturday, with West Ham’s league campaign continuing to look increasingly bleak.

Once again, the performance was not without promise. The Irons arguably had the better chances for much of the game, with Jarrod Bowen and Callum Wilson both going agonisingly close. But, as has so often been the case this season, West Ham failed to turn decent spells into goals.

Then came the decisive moment. With five minutes remaining, a horrendous miskick from full-back Ollie Scarles saw the ball fall straight to Harry Wilson, whose cross found Raúl Jiménez. The Mexican striker made no mistake, handing Marco Silva’s side all three points in East London.

Given this was widely viewed as a must-win fixture for the Hammers — and considering the generally solid performance — the result is a particularly painful one for supporters to digest.

While much of the post-match criticism will inevitably fall on Scarles, whose lapse in concentration proved decisive, a significant share of the blame must lie with Nuno Espírito Santo.

By the 65th minute, Scarles — making just his second appearance after a two-month injury layoff — looked visibly exhausted.

To his credit, the 20-year-old had actually produced a solid display: playing some neat passes, making important tackles and contributing vital clearances. It was a marked improvement on last weekend.

However, fatigue was clearly setting in. Nuno had trusted Ezra Mayers to make his West Ham debut away at Manchester City after Scarles limped off injured last week, and he should have shown the same decisiveness again here.

West Ham had worked tirelessly to remain defensively solid against Fulham, with even Max Kilman putting in a relatively assured performance. To see all that effort undone so cheaply was one of the most deflating moments of a season already full of them.

Scarles made the mistake on the pitch, but he should not have been left on the pitch long enough to make it. A fresh pair of legs in Mayers would likely have prevented the late goal.

I’ve often defended Nuno this season, but he must take a significant portion of responsibility for this defeat. His failure to act as Scarles tired proved costly and ultimately denied West Ham a vital point — and a long-overdue clean sheet.

Promising performances mean very little when the results continue to go missing. West Ham are now winless in seven and are repeatedly throwing away crucial points. Nuno has brought some positivity back to the football, but unless results improve quickly, West Ham’s Premier League survival hopes will soon evaporate.