Nuno Espirito Santo was impressed by the Premier League debuts of Pablo Felipe and Taty Castellanos despite West Ham United’s heartbreaking 2-1 defeat by Nottingham Forest at the London Stadium.
Thrown straight into the starting XI just one day after completing his £27 million arrival from Lazio, Argentina international Taty Castellanos impressed while leading the line for the Hammers for the very first time.
Pablo Felipe joined the Hammers late last week, meanwhile, and there was also a maiden English football appearance for him off the bench.
Taty Castellanos showed promise but his stats were underwhelming…🤐
What did YOU make of his debut?
Credit: Getty Images
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Those two new faces were not enough to secure West Ham United a vital win – Morgan Gibbs-White’s 89th minute penalty means the gap between themselves and 17th place Nottingham Forest now stands at seven points – but Nuno Espirito Santo liked what he saw from the duo on an otherwise miserable evening at a half-full London Stadium.
Nuno Espirito Santo hails West Ham United newbies Taty Castellanos and Pablo Felipe
“[Castellanos and Pablo were] good,” Nuno told BBC Sport. “They have settled in with the team. They have qualities and they have come to help.”
Castellanos said he would bring ‘incredible’ energy to West Ham, and he was as good as his word. Pressing ferociously and drawing applause with one flying sliding tackle on Forest defender Nikola Milenkovic.
Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP via Getty Images
Pablo was a little more withdrawn off the bench, but the former Gil Vicente hotshot did create a fine chance for Kyle Walker-Peters at 1-1.
All that promise was undone though when Alphonse Areola ‘whacked’ Gibbs-White in the face, earning Forest a contentious late penalty. Tomas Soucek called the decision a ‘joke’.
Nuno didn’t go that far, but he certainly wasn’t happy.
What did YOU make of the penalty which gifted Forest the win?
What defence could Areola have?
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“[This sort of collision] happens so many times during the matches that you get confused about the rules honestly,” Nuno adds. “How many times has this happened and penalties have not been given? I don’t quite understand.
“Areola goes for the ball, Soucek takes the ball out and then he cannot stop his movement. So, hard to explain.”
“We have to keep believing and sticking together. It’s not over yet. We keep on going.”
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