West Ham United locked horns with Newcastle United at St. James’ Park earlier today as they looked to secure all three points in the opening weekend of this Premier League campaign. The Hammers made a sloppy start to the game as they conceded the opening goal in the fifth minute when Callum Wilson found the back of the net from close range.
However, West Ham managed to equalize in the 18th minute courtesy of Aaron Cresswell’s goal. Jacob Murphy put Newcastle ahead on the scoreline once again just 22 minutes later as he scored with a dinked header which meant that David Moyes’ men went into the half-time break 2-1 down.
The East London outfit turned the game on its head in the second half as they found the leveler in the 53rd minute via Said Benrahma’s goal. Tomas Soucek completed the turnaround for West Ham just ten minutes later as he scored from the rebound after Michail Antonio’s missed penalty. However, Antonio redeemed for his missed spot-kick and went on to score his team’s fourth goal in the 66th minute as the contest ended with the Hammers securing an impressive 4-2 win away at Tyneside.
Let’s take a look at how each West Ham player performed during the clash against the Magpies.
GK: Łukasz Fabiański – 6/10
The Polish keeper made just one save during the game but will be disappointed after conceding two goals in the first half. He pulled off a couple of crucial clearances as well.
RB: Vladimír Coufal – 7/10
Coufal was solid at the back as he cleared the danger when needed. He engineered two good chances in the Magpies’ half.
CB: Craig Dawson – 6.5/10
He cleared his lines well when the Magpies were looking to flood his penalty box. Dawson also put his body on the line to block some goal-bound shots from the opposition.
CB: Angelo Ogbonna – 6.5/10
The Italian centre-back had a tough first-half but showed great character to produce a matured display in the second.
LB: Aaron Cresswell – 8/10
Cresswell didn’t do much wrong defensively and scored West Ham’s equalizer in the first half. It was a good, energetic display from him today.
CM: Declan Rice – 7.5/10
The England international did his best to protect his backline and was also quite lively in the opposition half.
CM: Tomas Soucek – 8/10
Soucek showed great anticipation to score from the rebound following Antonio’s missed penalty. He was a constant menace for the Magpies defenders with his late runs into the penalty box.
RW: Jarrod Bowen – 7.5/10
The English winger caused some headaches for the opposition but there was no goal or assist for him today.
CAM: Said Benrahma – 8/10
Benrahma created all kinds of problems for the Newcastle centre-backs and has got a goal to show for his efforts.
LW: Pablo Fornals – 8/10
The Spaniard engineered a few excellent chances for his teammates to score and ended the game with an assist to his name.
ST: Michail Antonio – 8.5/10
The Magpies struggled to deal with his pace and running. Antonio did well to score and assist a goal but won’t be pleased about missing his penalty. Fortunately for him, Soucek was there in the right place to score from the rebound.
Substitutes:
RM: Ryan Fredericks – N/A
He hardly had any time to make an impact.
CAM: Andriy Yarmolenko – N/A
Yarmolenko didn’t get enough minutes to warrant a rating.
LM: Ben Johnson – N/A
He came on to run the clock down for West Ham.
