Nuno Espirito Santo finally got his first win as West Ham United boss in their 3-1 win over Newcastle United on Sunday, pushing them to within three points of Premier League safety. And a tactical tweak he made from his previous London Stadium fixture was the key to success.

Nuno Espirito Santo joined West Ham just over a month ago, and despite grabbing a point at Everton in his first game, a poor run of form saw him record three consecutive losses to Arsenal, Brentford and Leeds in the Premier League.

West Ham’s loss away at Arsenal wasn’t by any means their worst result, but a dreadful performance at home to Brentford brought the booboys out at West Ham, while the defeat to Leeds was equally humiliating for their Premier League survival chances.

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But a tactical change that Nuno made from the game against Brentford by starting Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Malick Diouf in the full-back slots really dragged them over the line.

Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images

Nuno’s first home game for West Ham came against Brentford, who were tipped to be relegation candidates after manager Thomas Frank joined Tottenham.

But it was new...