At a glance

  • Brenden Aaronson & Joe Rodon score early goals for Leeds

  • Mateus Fernandes hits late goal for West Ham who suffer seventh league defeat

  • Hosts claim first home win since August

  • PLAYER RATINGS

Steve Sutcliffe
BBC Sport journalist

Leeds claimed their first Premier League win at home since the opening day of the season to pile on the problems for dismal West Ham.

The result lifted Daniel Farke's men up to 13th in the table, while the visitors remain second bottom after a seventh loss in nine league games.

Brenden Aaronson set the hosts on their way inside three minutes and by the time Joe Rodon headed a second with just over 14 minutes on the clock, it was the earliest Leeds had held a two-goal advantage in the English top flight since April 2004.

Both followed some shambolic defending from the Hammers, with Ollie Scarles and Aaron Wan-Bissaka culpable for the first as American winger Aaronson stole in to finish after Noah Okafor's header had been saved.

Jean-Clair Todibo was then caught out as Wales international Rodon was given a free run to attack a corner from Sean Longstaff.

Nuno Espirito Santo's side played in front of thousands of empty seats in their loss to Brentford on Monday at the London Stadium, as supporters protested against the club's board.

And their disgruntled fans that made the journey to Yorkshire had little to cheer yet again aside from a 90th-minute consolation from Mateus Fernandes as their side slipped to a third consecutive defeat in their worst start to a top-flight season since 1973-74.

Nuno remains without a win after four games in charge since replacing Graham Potter.

A miserable evening for his side was compounded by an injury to teenage defender Scarles, while Lucas Paqueta had an effort disallowed for offside following a video assistant referee (VAR) review - both incidents combining to add 13 minutes of injury time to the first period.

Leeds analysis: Aaronson shines as Farke's side finally fire

Farke praises Leeds' 'aggressive, brave performance'

While a lack of goals had been a major concern for Leeds in their opening eight league games, that issue was alleviated by the visit of the top-flight's worst defence.

Farke's side brutally exposed West Ham's weaknesses early on with Aaronson the tormentor-in-chief, scoring his first Premier League goal since August, 2022, and clipping the bar with a deflected effort after a rampaging run.

West Ham's inability to deal with crosses was clearly evident as Rodon's goal was the ninth time they had conceded from a corner this term - the most of any side in the league's history after the same number of games.

Leeds could, and perhaps should, have had more.

Ethan Ampadu, Okafor and Jack Harrison all had opportunities, while they kept the visitors at bay with dogged defending until the end.

West Ham analysis: Disjointed Hammers lurch towards relegation fight

West Ham aren't doing basic things - Nuno

Nuno guided Nottingham Forest into European football for the first time in 30 years last term.

Yet on this evidence, his ambitions for the present campaign may be limited to trying to ensure his latest employers do not drop into the Championship come May.

Another dispirited performance on the pitch arrived just days after a section of the club's support appeared in open revolt with their owners.

Hope of a new manager bounce has failed to materialise, with Nuno's tenure delivering just one point so far, from the first of his four matches at the helm.

A dreadful return of just four points in total represents West Ham's joint-worst ever at this stage of a league campaign, with the club replicating that tally in the second tier in 1932-33 and the 1973-74 campaign when they finished bottom.

The decision to start Scarles, a left-back at right-back, and Wan-Bissaka, who favours the right, on the left, appeared bewildering and directly contributed to Leeds' fast start.

And while striker Callum Wilson featured for the first time under Nuno, replacing England Under-20 international Scarles in the 25th minute, there was a disjointed feel to the Hammers' play until well into the second period after several further substitutes were introduced.

With two home fixtures on the horizon against Newcastle and Burnley, the Hammers need to arrest their awful form to prevent a full-blown crisis.

What's next for these teams?

Leeds travel to Brighton for their next Premier League match on Saturday, 1 November (15:00 GMT), while West Ham host Newcastle on Sunday, 2 November (14:00 GMT).

Player of the match

J. Rodon
8.28
6 J. Rodon
8.28
11 B. Aaronson
7.72
8 S. Longstaff
7.51
4 E. Ampadu
7.46
2 J. Bogle
7.26
15 J. Bijol
7.22
1 Lucas Perri
7.22
3 G. Gudmundsson
7.15
22 A. Tanaka
7.12
9 D. Calvert-Lewin
7.03
19 N. Okafor
7.03
24 J. Justin
6.78
20 J. Harrison
6.39
44 I. Gruev
6.30
14 L. Nmecha
6.03
7 D. James
5.96
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