West Ham United locked horns with Newcastle United at St. James’ Park earlier this afternoon as they looked to pick up all three points on the road. The Hammers dominated possession in the early stages of the game but looked a bit disjointed at the back.
David Moyes’ men conceded the opener in the 36th minute when Issa Diop made a complete mess of his clearance and scored an unfortunate own goal. Craig Dawson was given his second yellow card just moments later for taking out Joelinton in the lead-up to the goal. The East London outfit shipped in another goal just five minutes later when Joelinton tapped the ball in from close range after a nightmare error by West Ham keeper Lukasz Fabianski.
The East London outfit kept themselves in the game despite their numerical disadvantage and got a goal back via Issa Diop’s header in the 73rd minute. Jesse Lingard scored the equalizer from the penalty spot just seven minutes later to set up a grand finale. However, Joe Willock came off the bench to net the winning goal for Newcastle in the 82nd minute as the contest finished with the Hammers suffering a hard-fought 3-2 loss away at Tyneside.
Let’s take a look at how each West Ham player fared during the clash against the Magpies.
GK: Łukasz Fabiański – 5/10
Fabianski made a few solid stops during the game but was guilty of making a howler in the lead-up to Joelinton’s goal in the 41st minute. He will be far from pleased after shipping in three goals today.
CB: Issa Diop – 6/10
The French centre-back scored an unfortunate own goal to gift the Magpies the opener in the first half. However, he made up for his mistake by finding the back of the net with a good header in the 73rd minute.
CB: Craig Dawson – 3/10
The Hammers talent carelessly picked up two yellow cards within the first 36 minutes of the game and got sent off which left his teammates with a mountain to climb.
CB: Angelo Ogbonna – 6.5/10
The Italian defensive ace won his fair share of aerial duels and even cleared his lines when required. However, he won’t be happy after conceding three goals during the game.
RM: Vladimír Coufal – 7/10
Coufal timed his tackles well and won the ball back quite a few times for his side. He was also quite lively in the opposition half.
CM: Mark Noble – 6.5/10
The English veteran struggled to disrupt Newcastle’s rhythm in midfield but was responsible for creating a couple of decent chances in the attacking third.
CM: Tomas Soucek – 7/10
Soucek worked hard to protect his teammates at the back but struggled to be a threat inside the Newcastle penalty box.
LM: Ben Johnson – 8/10
He hardly put a foot wrong in the game defensively and caused a lot of problems for the Magpies in the final third. He orchestrated some meaningful openings for others around him from the left flank.
CAM: Pablo Fornals – 6.5/10
The Spaniard showed some glimpses of his brilliance but didn’t do enough to get himself a goal during the 90 minutes.
ST: Jesse Lingard – 6.5/10
Lingard was not shy of having a shot at goal but lacked the cutting edge in front of the opponent’s goal. However, he deserves credit for converting the penalty and equalizing for West Ham in the 80th minute, before Joe Willock dashed their hopes just moments later.
ST: Jarrod Bowen – 7/10
Bowen was a constant menace for the Newcastle centre-backs and picked up a good assist for setting up Diop’s goal in the second half.
Substitutes:
ST: Said Benrahma – 6/10
He made a couple of promising runs but didn’t do enough to get himself a goal.
CAM: Manuel Lanzini – N/A
The Argentine sensation hardly had any time to influence the game.
LM: Ryan Fredericks – N/A
He came off the bench for the final moments of the game.
