West Ham United locked horns with Newcastle United at St. James’ Park earlier today hoping to pick up a surprise victory on the road. The Hammers made a strong start to the game and took the lead in the fourth minute courtesy of Michail Antonio’s goal. However, the Magpies needed only 13 minutes to find a leveller through Miguel Almiron’s finish from close range. Both teams went into the half-time break with nothing to split them.
The East London outfit regained their lead in the 65th minute via Tomas Soucek’s powerful finish. However, Jonjo Shelvey equalised for the home side just two minutes later when he found the back of the net with an emphatic strike. The contest ended with both teams sharing the spoils after playing out an entertaining 2-2 draw at Tyneside.
Let’s take a look at how each West Ham player fared during the contest versus the Magpies.
GK: Łukasz Fabiański – 6/10
The Hammers goalie made some decent stops but ended up conceding two goals during the game which won’t please him.
RB: Ryan Fredericks – 6.5/10
He worked hard in chasing down the Newcastle attackers inside his half and was a decent outlet for West Ham down the right flank.
CB: Issa Diop – 5.5/10
The French centre-half struggled to cope with Almiron’s threat but was responsible for making a few vital headed clearances for his side.
CB: Angelo Ogbonna – 5/10
He gave away some cheap fouls throughout the 90 minutes and looked far from his best at the heart of David Moyes’ defence.
LB: Aaron Cresswell – 6/10
He was bright and vibrant in the opposition half and was unfortunate not to come away with an assist. However, he was a bit vulnerable defensively, which is quite unlike him.
CM: Tomas Soucek – 8/10
The Czech Republic international had another solid game for West Ham at the centre of the park. He did well to score from close range and once again showed why the Hammers fans value him so highly in London.
CM: Declan Rice – 7/10
The English midfielder distributed the ball accurately and did enough to keep Allan Saint-Maximin quiet for major periods of the game. It was another industrious display from him today.
LM: Manuel Lanzini – 5/10
The Argentine playmaker struggled to create anything meaningful and was subbed early in the second half.
CAM: Pablo Fornals – 6.5/10
He played a fantastic diagonal pass in the lead-up to Antonio’s goal. Fornals was a constant menace for the opposition defenders but didn’t have anything to show for his efforts.
RM: Jarrod Bowen – 7.5/10
The English winger picked up a well-deserved assist when he set-up Antonio in the fourth minute. He also came close to scoring but was denied by an excellent save from Martin Dubravka.
ST: Michail Antonio – 7/10
The English striker banged in the opening goal early in the game and was not shy of running the channels up top. It was another hard-working performance from him during the 90 minutes.
Substitutes:
CM: Mark Noble – 5/10
He slowed the tempo of the game down which worked against the Hammers.
RM: Andriy Yarmolenko – 6/10
The Ukrainian winger did well to test Dubravka, but there was no goal for him today.
