A catalogue of calamitous errors proved costly for West Ham and their Champions League hopes, as they were defeated 3-2 by Newcastle United at St. James’ Park, on Saturday.
Goals from Issa Diop (73’) and Jesse Lingard (80’ pen), were mere consolations in defeat as a number of West Ham defensive errors allowed Diop (36’ og), Joelinton (41’) and Joe Willock (82’) to hand Newcastle the three points.
Craig Dawson (36’) was dismissed early on, for his foul in the build-up to Diop’s own-goal.
Early Warning Signs
In the opening passages, West Ham enjoyed plenty possession. Despite the control they were able to gain, it was Newcastle who produced the first chance of the game.
Miguel Almiron danced through the West Ham lines to eventually find Sean Longstaff, whose shot was deflected and dribbled wide of the goal.
Soon after, Newcastle looked dangerous once more. This time, Allan Saint-Maximin produced some fine pieces of skill to beat the covering Jarrod Bowen. He found his way into the box but had his shot blocked.
Resisting and Applying Pressure
Danger loomed as some poor clearances from the Hammers, produced many opportunities for Newcastle players to fire shots in direct range to Lukasz Fabianski.
Midway through the first half, West Ham began to build attacks better, with Lingard and Bowen linking up to good effect.
Bowen’s most impactful involvement came via a deflected shot which eventually trickled to goalkeeper, Martin Dubravka.
Pivotal “Hammer Blow”
In the 36th minute West Ham sustained a hammer blow. Dawson received the ball near the halfway line but produced a poor heavy touch, which invited Joelinton to pounce.
He nipped in and stole the ball off Dawson, who lunged in and brought the Brazilian down, while chasing his loose touch.
Play continued with Saint-Maximin running one-on-one against and beating Mark Noble, deep into the West Ham box. He got a slightly scuffed shot off which deceived and beat Fabianski.
Diop applied his best efforts to clear off the line while chasing back but in doing so, he got his feet mixed up and played the ball off himself, to convert straight into his own net. 1-0 to the hosts.
More Misery
It then went from bad to worse for West Ham, as referee, Kevin Friend, issued Dawson a second yellow card for his foul in the build-up to the goal. The Hammers were reduced to 10 men and the size of the task at hand suddenly multiplied.
Soon after, West Ham poorly faltered once more. Newcastle floated the ball into the centre of the box, through a corner. Fabianski attempted to catch the ball but fumbled it, no more than a yard from the goal line.
Unluckily for the visitors, Joelinton was right on hand to stab home from close range. 2-0 Newcastle.
With minutes remaining of the half, once more, the Hammers found themselves on the receiving end of a Newcastle onslaught. Luckily for West Ham, Joelinton’s resulting shot was saved comfortably by Fabianski.
With the score at 2-0 to the hosts, the half time interval arrived with Newcastle very much in pole position and the more dominant of the two sides.
Regained Impetus
West Ham started the second half a great deal brighter than how they ended the first.
With greater urgency and some direct running at the Newcastle defence, Bowen beat his marker to fire towards the near post which Dubravka got behind to save.
With West Ham a man light, the bodies they committed forward meant that spaces were left behind for Newcastle to exploit. Almiron and Saint-Maximin were afforded plenty of space in the attacking third which gave the Hammers warning signs of a potential killer blow.
Near to the hour mark, West Ham created better chances and began to look more dangerous. A corner resulting from a deflected Lingard shot, found Ogbonna at the back post who narrowly headed wide.
Upturn in Fortune
Such to their aerial prowess this season, West Ham gave themselves a lifeline in the 73rd minute, through another headed goal.
Bowen picked up the ball some yards away from the box. He lifted it up to Diop who remained upfield from a previous set piece.
Unchallenged in the box, Diop met the cross to head towards the bottom right-hand corner. Dubravka got a hand to the ball but he was unable to keep out the Frenchman’s header. West Ham halved the deficit and their tails were up. 2-1.
In the 76th minute, proceedings began to accelerate. Referee, Friend, was advised by VAR to inspect a suspected handball by Ciaran Clark. After only minutes of deliberation, he awarded the Hammers a penalty and a chance to level the scoring.
Lingard stepped up to take what was a high-pressure spot-kick. With an expertly placed shot which clipped the post on the way in, he fired West Ham level. West Ham found themselves on level terms within minutes – remarkably, 2-2.
Squandered Fightback
After working hard to get back into the game, the Hammers threw it away just two minutes later, in dramatic fashion.
While still feeling the effects of just managing to clear off the line from a powerful Murphy shot, West Ham were poor in reacting, as Matt Ritchie was allowed to deliver a pacey cross into the box.
Newcastle substitute, Willock, met the cross and powerfully headed past Fabianski, with the help of the underside of the bar. After being on the field for only minutes, the Arsenal loanee’s quick contribution handed his side the lead once more.
Matters Worsen
Such to the pattern of the game for West Ham, misery compiled once more.
Soon after the goal, Lingard went down with what appeared to be a muscular tweak of some sort.
The England international was in visible discomfort and was forced off through injury, with Manuel Lanzini coming off the bench to replace him.
Fallen Short
Their efforts late on during eight minutes of added time, were not enough and the Hammers eventually succumbed to being on the wrong end of yet another multi-goal thriller and conceded three goals once more.
The defeat sees them fail to move past Leicester City into third, casting huge doubts over their Champions League qualification hopes.
