West Ham United were dealt with a 2-0 loss against Newcastle United in their opening fixture of the 2020/21 Premier League campaign. The Hammers looked the inferior side from the word go as they lacked creative flair on the pitch with players like Andriy Yarmolenko and Felipe Anderson missing from the starting lineup. In fact, it is beyond one’s understanding why manager David Moyes did not start with a natural striker like Sébastien Haller instead of a makeshift centre forward like Michail Antonio.
While the London side looked out of sorts on most occasions during the match, with players like Pablo Fornals hitting the post and Tomáš Souček heading wide of the target, Newcastle struck twice to win their first match of the season in a fairly comfortable manner. New signing Callum Wilson found the back of the net after a deflected cross from Javier Manquillo was headed into the striker’s path by Jeff Hendrick. Hendrick scored the second goal of the match for the Magpies as he got the ball past Lukasz Fabianski from a Miguel Almiron assist, which was enough to put the game beyond West Ham’s reach.
Here is how the West Ham United players are rated from their loss against Newcastle United.
Lukasz Fabianski 6
Had a mixed evening where he made a few good saves but conceded a couple of goals. The goals, however, were scored due to the mistakes committed by the defenders.
Ryan Fredericks 5
Always looked on the backfoot against Jeff Hendrick as he allowed him a lot of space to aim for the goal.
Issa Diop 4.5
Looked completely out of sorts against the physicality of Andy Carroll. Should have done better to stop Wilson from scoring the first goal.
Angelo Ogbonna 5.5
Headed a ball past the bar in the first half. Defensively had a hard time against the likes of Allan Saint-Maximin and Wilson.
Aaron Cresswell 4
Was made to suffer a lot by the trickery of Saint-Maximin until the winger was taken off.
Tomáš Souček 5
Looked to make runs into the opposition box but was well guarded by Issac Hayden. Missed a good opportunity to score as he headed past in the first half.
Declan Rice 4
Looked completely out of sorts with his passing and ball control. Gave the ball away on several occasions in the midfield.
Mark Noble 5
Was utilised out of position, which did not help the cause of the player. Got into a few tussles throughout the match before being taken off in the second half.
Pablo Fornals 4.5
His most significant contribution came when he hit the post in the first half from close range.
Michail Antonio 5
Could not use his physicality to get the better of the opposition defenders. It was a night to forget for the makeshift striker.
Substitutes
Andriy Yarmolenko 4
Did not do anything significant to make the opposition defenders pay after he came on in the 65th minute.
Sébastien Haller 6
Looked like a bright spark on a few occasions after coming on but was well handled by Jamaal Lascelles.
Felipe Anderson NA
Spent too little time on the pitch to earn a rating.
