Nuno Espirito Santo was thrilled with the response his West Ham players showed after they came from two goals down to draw 2-2 with rivals Millwall at The Den.

In what was the first fixture between these old foes since February 2012, when West Ham won 2-1 in the Championship, it looked as though Millwall would cruise to victory. 

The Lions took the lead in the 16th minute through Caleb Taylor, who finished at the back post after Mads Hermansen had made two brilliant saves to keep the hosts at bay. 

It got even better for Alex Neil's side in first-half stoppage time when Lyndon Dykes' long throw was brought down by Camiel Neghli, who finished at Hermansen's near post. 

Nuno responded by making two changes at the break, with Mohamadou Kante and Pablo brought on to replace Kyle Walker-Peters and Joel Piroe. 

And those substitutions got West Ham back in the game, with Pablo laying the ball off to Kante, whose rasping drive from 25 yards out whistled into the bottom-left corner. 

Konstantinos Mavropanos levelled things up 10 minutes from time when he nodded in Manor Solomon's cross, with West Ham goalscorer Kante then sent off in the 89th minute after losing possession to Kyrell Lisbie before dragging him down with a last-man challenge. 

West Ham were able to hold on for the minutes that remained, though Dykes came within inches of snatching all three points for Millwall in the closing stages. 

"Clearly, in the first half we didn't go well in the game, we didn't start well, we were not precise, we lost balls, we didn't deal with the physicality of Millwall," Nuno conceded.

"They are so good and strong; they took advantage of the throw-in, the way we can see things happening.

"Disappointing on that part; we knew what we were going to find, but we didn't do well.

"But much improved in the second half and the way the game went, it's a positive. Not what we wanted, but the way the boys reacted to a bad first half was good and positive."

Kante's dismissal overshadowed an impactful outing off the bench, having had more shots on target (two) and created more chances (two) than any other player for West Ham. 

"He came into the game very well, a beautiful goal, but then a big mistake, and then it was the right decision to take it and avoid something tragic," Nuno said of Kante's red card. 

"He's a very young player, with a lot of things to improve – we have many in our squad – so I hope this is a lesson for his future."

West Ham's defeat saw them relinquish top spot in the Championship to Swansea City, who moved two points clear of the Hammers with a 2-1 victory away to Lincoln City. 

Reeco Hackett's 39th-minute penalty had given Lincoln the lead, but two goals in the space of four minutes from Moussa Yeo and Stephen Eustaquio completed the turnaround. 

There was a first home win of the season for Wrexham, with Keven Schlotterbeck's own goal in the 89th minute earning Phil Parkinson's side a 2-1 victory over Southampton. 

Burnley were also denied a first league victory of the season after drawing 1-1 with Derby County, with Mohammed Fuseini's stoppage-time equaliser keeping the Clarets at the bottom of the table heading into the extended international break.