A missed opportunity to move up to sixth for Newcastle United and defeat that well and truly bursts our bubble as an out-of-form West Ham side pulled off a 2-0 win at St James’ Park.
The Hammers scored early in both halves and against the run of play on each occasion, but we wasted far too many big openings, defended awfully for their goals and were flat as a pancake in a second half the visitors totally controlled after making it 2-0.
We could’ve counted ourselves slightly unlucky in the first half, where Gordon, Isak and Willock all went close and our pressing and possession play was good. However, that lack of cutting edge cost us – as it did in last month’s home defeat to Brighton – and the second half was awful, where heads dropped, our shape was non-existent, Eddie Howe’s subs did not work at all and we never looked like scoring, failing to muster a single shot on goal in the final 45.
The result leaves us 10th in the league and with just 13 goals scored in our opening 12 games. At this stage last season, we hade more than twice that number of goals, giving Howe a challenge to not only find his best XI but that spark in the final third ahead of Saturday’s trip to Selhurst Park.
Howe made one change for this one, where Lloyd Kelly came in at centre-back for Dan Burn, who sat this one out through suspension after picking up his fifth caution of the season in our 3-1 win at Nottingham Forest last time out.
There was no Lewis Miley in the squad; not due to injury, just the result of Callum Wilson and Kieran Trippier’s long-awaited return to the bench, which looked strong with £90m duo Sandro Tonali and Harvey Barnes also waiting in reserve.
We came out the blocks quickly and almost took the lead as Isak’s dinked finish was flagged for offside, but it was the Hammers who punished us at the other end as Soucek headed in a corner after losing Kelly.
It was a frustrating first half, not just for the soft goal we conceded but our struggles in the final ball despite plenty of possession and pressing. The biggest chance fell for Gordon, who should’ve punished Todibo’s error before Fabianski smothered his close range effort, yet there were others guilty of missed chances as Willock curled wide and Isak couldn’t hit the target after bringing down a lovely ball in behind from Bruno.
Willock was wasteful and he was punished at the break, as super-sub Harvey Barnes came on. It was his heroics that helped us to a 4-3 comeback win against the Hammers earlier this year and Howe would’ve been hoping for something similar as Barnes’ introduction saw Gordon move to the right and Joelinton drop into a left-sided midfield role.
However, despite another decent start to the half, bad defending at the other end cost us again as Bruno lost a duel to best pal Lucas Paqueta before Wan-Bissaka got on the end of Bowen’s pass and fired in off the post. 2-0 and another suckerpunch of a goal to double West Ham’s lead.
We huffed and puffed after, made a host of changes – Tonali, Wilson and Murphy replaced Longstaff, Joelinton and Gordon – but barely tested Fabianski. We’d gone totally flat and would’ve conceded a third if it wasn’t for Kelly’s last-ditch block to deny Summerville.
Isak headed a decent chance wide after good work from Livramento and, after going to a 4-4-2 following Wilson’s introduction, our fit-again No.9 was denied what looked like a clear penalty after being bundled over by Mavrapanos. And that was that, as West Ham looked comfortable in the closing stages to see out a 2-0 win.
Newcastle XI: Pope – Livramento, Schar, Kelly, Hall – Longstaff, Guimaraes, Willock – Gordon, Isak, Joelinton. SUBS: Dubravka, Trippier, Targett, Tonali, Barnes, Murphy, Almiron, Osula, Wilson.
West Ham XI: Fabianski – Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Emerson – Soler, Paquetá, Soucek – Bowen, Antonio, Summerville. SUBS: Areola, Cresswell, Coufal, Mavropanos, Guilherme, Rodríguez, Irving, Scarles, Ings.
Next up, a trip to Crystal Palace next weekend before we welcome Arne Slot’s Liverpool to St James’ Park next Wednesday.
HWTL.
Add Comment