West Ham United took all three points at St James’s Park on Saturday, beating Newcastle United 3-0 to secure just their second win since October.
A classy attacking performance from the Hammers and a Javier Hernández brace bought Newcastle’s three match winning streak to an end.
Out Of The Blocks
It didn’t take long for the visitors to go ahead when, in the 11th minute, with many of the Newcastle fans yet to even take their seats, winger Robert Snodgrass ended his run down the left with an in-swinging cross into Hernández who beat Federico Fernández to poke the ball into the back of the net.
West Ham continued to look threatening going forward and Marko Arnautović had the chance to double their lead when he rounded Magpies keeper Martin Dúbravka in the 20th minute after Felipe Anderson’s through ball, but was unable to finish from a tight angle.
Magpies Draw Blank
Ayoze Pérez had the hosts best chance of the first half in the 26th minute but was unable to get good enough contact on DeAndre Yedlin’s cross, heading over the bar.
Salomón Rondón and Pérez both had chances again to draw level, but saw their shots blocked by Pablo Zabaleta and dragged wide respectively.
Hammers Strong In Attack
The visitors headed into the second half looking the stronger side and their attacking edge was causing havoc in the Newcastle defence.
Rafael Benítez’s men only real chance in the second half came after Rondón narrowly headed over from a corner in the 53rd minute and it was all downhill from there.
Two To The Good
Hernández wasted a couple of perfect chances and it was looking like the Mexican was missing that cutting edge he had in the first half until he met Arnautović’s flick in the 63rd minute to secure his brace.
Arnautović was a constant thorn in the side of the Newcastle defence and although he was unable to find the net, his assist and work rate was enough to earn the applause of the travelling West Ham fans when he was substituted in the 70th minute.
After the second goal, Newcastle looked deflated and any chance of a comeback was thwarted by Pérez’s wastefulness in front of goal with two headers and a shot sailing high and wide of the goal.
It’s no surprise that his substitution in the 78th minute was met by cheers from the home fans.
Game, Set & Match
The game was as good as over already when Felipe Anderson rubbed salt in the wounds, bundling past Fabian Schär to fire home with the last touch of the game ending the game 3-0.
Speaking to press after the match, West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini said: “I’m really satisfied because the team played a very good game,
“We kept a clean sheet which we haven’t done very often this season. They didn’t create many chances. If you keep a clean sheet you can play different.
“We work hard during the week and today we played in the way we need if we don’t want to concede goals.”
The result puts Pellegrini’s men in 13th place ahead of their clash with relegation candidates Cardiff City on Tuesday, when the Hammers will return to the London Stadium.
