Minutes later, Gordon played in Wilson but, for once, he did not take his chance as Aguerd raced back to make a sensational, inch-perfect tackle to deny the striker, who then headed a free-kick straight at Łukasz Fabiański. It would have been too much to expect West Ham to continue to dominate against a team unbeaten at home all season, though, and it took a smart block from Coufal to keep out Saint-Maximin’s low volley, before Joelinton was rightly booked for diving inside the penalty area by referee Peter Bankes.īoth managers then went to their respective substitutes’ benches, with Howe bringing on Anthony Gordon for his debut and Moyes, who had replaced hamstring injury victim Thilo Kehrer with Ben Johnson at half-time, sending on Pablo Fornals and Tomáš Souček. The Moroccan had the first chance of the second half, too, glancing Benrahma’s in-swinging delivery wide. Moments before half-time, the visitors could have led, but Nayed Aguerd’s header from Vladimír Coufal’s free-kick went too high and the teams went in level. West Ham were level, and now they were on top, with Rice and goalscorer Paquetá dominating the midfield and their teammates snapping into challenges all over the field. The No11 celebrated with a somersault and a trademark dance on the pitch, while the West Ham fans exploded high up in the Leazes Stand. Rice’s delivery flicked off a black and white shirt and fell to the Brazilian at the far post, he controlled and fired in. From the resulting corner, 574 minutes after he was last beaten in the top-flight, the England goalkeeper was finally picking the ball out of his net. Pope had not conceded a Premier League goal in three months, but his goal was becoming increasingly threatened as Paquetá’s low shot was deflected inches wide just after the half-hour mark. At the other end, Fabian Schär clipped narrowly wide from a set piece. Michail Antonio saw one shot blocked by Sven Botman, before the Dutchman was poleaxed by a rasping drive from Paquetá, Saïd Benrahma ended a promising move by lifting high over Pope’s crossbar. St James’ Park erupted for a second time and, with confidence brimming, the Magpies spent the next ten minutes hovering around the visitors’ penalty area before the Irons finally got going. Joelinton robbed fellow Brazilian Paquetá on halfway and Sean Longstaff released Wilson through the heart of the West Ham defence.įor the tenth time in 12 appearances against the Hammers, the England centre-forward found the back of the net. The cheers from the travelling supporters had hardly died down when the Irons’ defence was breached again, and this time there was no reprieve. Indeed, only a VAR check which decreed the ball had just gone out before Miguel Almirón cut it back for Joe Willock to net denied Newcastle a goal within 45 seconds. Newcastle’s fast start should have come as no surprise, but West Ham were still caught in the stalls in the North East. Before kick-off, Declan Rice drew the ire of the home fans by making Newcastle attack the Gallowgate End in the first half, but it would not be long before those Toon Army jeers turned to cheers.
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