25 November 2024
Newcastle 0 West Ham 2
Eddie Howe’s side welcomed West Ham to St James’ Park looking to put themselves just outside of the top four with victory. Julen Lopetegui was under immense pressure since taking over in the summer after making a poor start to the season. The Hammers found themselves just three points outside of the bottom three and in desperate need of points.
The visitors forced an early corner and The Magpies’ marking was nothing short of non-existent. Soucek was completely unmarked in the middle of the box, West Ham’s biggest aerial threat, to head home and silence the home faithful. It was the perfect start for The Hammers as they looked to turn their season around with victory.
Newcastle looked to spread the ball into wide areas to exploit the pitch at St James’ Park. Joelinton had all the time in the world to pick his cross but a poor header from Wan-Bissaka presented the ball to Willock. He checked onto his right foot and looked to bend his shot into the far corner of the goal. It narrowly missed the post with Fabianski rooted to the spot.
The target had opened up for the midfielder and he had the perfect angle to bend it in with the defenders blocking any sight The Hammers’ keeper hoped for. As the ball bounced about two feet wide of the post, the reality dawned on Willock what a chance he had missed for the hosts. It was an early warning for Lopetegui’s side.
Longstaff was the next player to send a cross in and Todibo made a complete hash of the clearance. Gordon ghosted into the box to get a shot off at goal but Fabianski reacted quickly to get a block in with his legs. From seven yards out the Newcastle winger should have buried the opportunity and it was starting to look like one of those nights for the hosts.
West Ham were looking a shambles in the defensive third as they continued to give away possession cheaply. Guimaraes clipped a pass over the top to pick out Isak, as he controlled it on his chest, he got a half-volley away towards goal. His effort missed the target by the narrowest of margins and Eddie Howe could not believe his side were still trailing by a single goal.
Despite being under the cosh for the majority of the half The Hammers went in at the break with their lead intact. They would need to improve considerably if they had any hopes of keeping a clean sheet, let alone picking up all three points. The Magpies needed to find their scoring boots in the changing rooms if they were going to turn this game around.
If you speak to Eddie Howe, he will wax lyrical about all the positives his side are capable of. One lesser known fact that they displayed in this game after the interval was their ability to make West Ham look like prime AC Milan from 2005. The visitors were passing the ball around and opening up the hosts at will and should have scored more.
Barnes broke down the left and look to pick out Gordon on the opposite flank with a defence-splitting pass. He checked inside onto his left foot and looked to pass it into the far corner. His shot narrowly missed the goal as it started to look like The Magpies weren’t going to score if they played until the weekend.
Bowen was looking more like his old self and pulling the strings in attack for The Hammers. Wan-Bissaka came forward and played the ball into the West Ham forward. He held the ball up well before returning the favour as the full-back continued his run. Once in the box, the former Man Utd defender drilled a shot across goal into the far corner to double the visitors’ lead.
As the away end erupted, they just about drowned out the groans from the home fans. The Hammers had made a dreadful start to the season but on this performance, they were probably wishing they could play Newcastle every week. Paqueta was running the show from midfield and there was nothing Howe’s side could seem to do about it.
The visitors should have added more but both Soucek and Soler spurned chances to score a third. Pope was the far busier of the two keepers and it just seemed a matter of time before Lopetegui’s side scored again. Bowen felt he should have had a free kick but the referee waved away his protests before The Magpies hit them on the counter-attack.
Murphy swung a teasing cross into the far post and Wilson crumpled to the ground demanding a penalty. The referee was not interested and waved away their protests. It was a clumsy challenge from Mavropanos but fortunately VAR decided to stick with the onfield decision. It would have been a gift to the hosts to allow them such an easy route back into this game.
West Ham held on for the win and got a clean sheet to boot. They moved six points clear of the relegation mix and a lot of pressure will have been lifted off the shoulders of Lopetegui. Howe will have some awkward questions to answer and you wonder how long the patience of their Saudi owners will continue if the club do not make considerable steps towards bringing some much-needed silverware back to the North East.
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