Newcastle United 0-2 West Ham United
Premier League, St James' Park, Monday 25 November 2024, 8pm GMT
There was an element of revenge in the air in the North-East on Monday night as West Ham United produced a performance of authority and class to beat high-flying Newcastle United 2-0.
Discounting that gut-wrenching defeat at St James' Park in March, when we relinquished a two-goal lead late on to lose 4-3, West Ham had lost just one of the previous 15 Premier League games when we'd gone 1-0 up, and there was certainly no let-up this time with a goal in each half from the Hammers.
After struggling for sustained possession in the opening exchanges, we hit the front through Tomáš Souček’s pinpoint header, before Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s first goal in Claret and Blue added the icing on the cake and capped off a memorable night on Tyneside.
Victory keeps the Hammers 14th in the Premier League standings, now just four points off the top six, and is our first three-point haul over Newcastle since August 2021.
Prior to kick-off, a huge tifo adorned two sides of the stadium in honour of Swedish striker Alexander Isak who had scored in all of his three previous meetings against the Hammers.
Buoyed on by a raucous home crowd, the Swede looked intent on adding to that tally from the first whistle. Inside the first five minutes the in-form forward fired wide from a difficult angle after being put through by Tino Livramento, before four minutes later he dinked over the on-rushing Lukasz Fabiański but his celebrations were cut short by an offside flag, which was shortly verified by VAR.
But for all the statistics flying around before the game, we made it count with the main number that mattered - the scoreline - as we took the lead via a well-worked set-piece that appeared to sting the hosts and in truth, they never really recovered.
It came after some good work from Michail Antonio on the right wing that earned a corner. Emerson whipped in the resulting set-piece from the left and Souček rose highest above his marker to guide the ball past Nick Pope.
There was no doubt Newcastle grew back into the game, and by the midway point of the first half Eddie Howe’s side were arguably on top.
After a lot of probing, the hosts kept up the tempo, as Joe Willock shot narrowly off target, while at the other end the Hammers continued to threaten on the break, with the recalled Carlos Soler's shot going just past Pope's right post.
There were more half-chances for the Magpies to find a route back into the game, as Sean Longstaff saw a tame header from Anthony Gordon's cross comfortably saved as the half-hour mark approached.
Fabiański was being kept busy by Newcastle in their search for a leveller, as Gordon was the next to test the goalkeeper’s reflexes, while Lewis Hall’s low shot across goal narrowly evaded the on-rushing Isak at the back post.
At the other end, Jarrod Bowen offered some respite for the Irons. Lucas Paquetá intercepted a pass and fed the Hammers’ captain, who was given the space and time to shoot from 25 yards, but his shot whistled past Pope's far post.
Back came Newcastle who got straight onto the offensive with two clear-cut chances. First, Jean-Clair Todibo’s header was cleared only as far as Gordon, but the winger’s effort was well saved by the outstretched boot of Fabianski, then Willock's follow-up was blocked.
Moments later, Bruno Guimarães stood the ball up for Isak at the far post. A touch on his chest took him away from his marker but he couldn’t keep his effort down as his half-volley went wide.
Julen Lopetegui’s charges started the second half positively and proactively, dominating possession and looking to breach the Newcastle backline, and they duly doubled their lead on 53 minutes through Wan-Bissaka at the end of a free-flowing move involving Bowen.
Paquetá started the move, and found Bowen down the right. Our captain then teed up Wan-Bissaka in the box, and his low effort across goal went in off the far post.
Bowen's assist for West Ham's second took his total to 79 goal involvements in the Premier League for the Irons - one more than Paolo Di Canio and third overall behind Michail Antonio (101) and Mark Noble (82).
The Hammers went in search of a killer third goal, with a flurry of shots sent in the direction of Pope, all of which came to nothing, while at the other end, Fabian Schär's long-range effort went wildly off target.
Soler's free-kick just after the hour mark almost added our third, before Isak headed wide after stooping to meet a Livramento cross.
Howe sent on Callum Wilson, who had an impressive goalscoring record of 12 goals in 14 games against West Ham for the Magpies and previous club Bournemouth, as his side continued to search for a route back into the game.
There was a brief scare when Wilson threatened to get clear of our defence in the box and went down under pressure following Dinos Mavropanos’ challenge, but protests were soon waved away by referee Craig Pawson. At the other end, Danny Ings was inches away from getting a crucial touch to the ball to tee himself up from close range.
Thereafter, Lopetegui’s charges remained defensively resolute as cries of ‘olé' went up from the away end, and the Hammers recorded a second consecutive clean sheet to send the 3,200 away fans home delighted.
Newcastle United: Pope, Schär, Kelly, Livramento, Hall, Longstaff (Tonali 57), Willock (Barnes 46), Guimarães © (Trippier 84), Joelinton (Murphy 69), Gordon (Wilson 68), Isak
Subs not used: Dúbravka (GK), Targett, Osula, Almirón
Booked: Kelly
West Ham United: Fabiański, Wan-Bissaka, Todibo (Mavropanos 57), Kilman, Emerson (Coufal 75), Soler (Rodríguez 84), Souček, Paquetá, Summerville (Irving 84), Bowen ©, Antonio (Ings 75)
Subs not used: Areola (GK), Cresswell, Scarles, Luis Guilherme
Goals: Souček 10, Wan-Bissaka 53
Booked: Lopetegui
Referee: Craig Pawson
Attendance: 52,094
