WEST HAM UNITED v NEWCASTLE UNITED
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
SATURDAY 23 OCTOBER 2010
KICK-OFF: 5.30PM
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Final score - West Ham United 1-2 Newcastle United
93 mins - Gabbidon pumps a long ball forward to nobody and it flies out for a throw. Seconds later, the game is over. That was a truly forgettable afternoon, to be brutally honest. There will need to be a massive improvement if West Ham are to knock Stoke City out of the Carling Cup on Wednesday evening.
92 mins - The stadium is near-silent as we approach what has been something of an inevitable conclusion since Newcastle went ahead.
91 mins - This has been far too comfortable for Newcastle. We're going to have at least three more minutes and there is no sign whatsoever of a comeback.
89 mins - Carroll again. He's been outstanding today, the big striker. He runs at Gabbidon and shoots from about 25 yards. The ball flies low and about two yards wide of the post.
88 mins - Another chance for Newcastle as Barton wins the ball and tries to play in Ameobi, but his pass is too strong.
87 mins - Obinna is fouled by Jose Enrique. Noble takes the free-kick, Da Costa helps it on but it's well wide, in truth. Time is rapidly running out, here...
85 mins - Newcastle work Green again as Gutierrez cuts inside and shoots with his right foot, but it is straight at Green.
84 mins - Obinna and Ilunga combine down the left. The left-back crosses and Cole gets his head to it. It looks like the ball will drop to Parker, but it just won't sit for the No8 and Newcastle clear the danger.
83 mins - Barton takes and Green helps the ball out for a throw. Newcastle are taking ages over every set piece, but you can't really blame them.
82 mins - Newcastle look like the only winners here, to be honest. Carroll holds the ball up on the edge of the box before laying it back to Ameobi, whose shot is deflected narrowly wide for another corner.
81 mins - Newcastle come close again. Jose Enrique is allowed to turn away from Barrera. He runs about 40 yards before seeing his shot hit Jacobsen and spin behind. The corner drops dangerously inside the six-yard box before Obinna smashes it upfield.
80 mins - West Ham need to stand up and be counted in the final ten minutes. They need a point out of this game, at least...
78 mins - The ball drops to Jacobsen, who finds Barrera. He runs at Jose Enrique before slicing his cross behind. It's been one of those days, so far.
76 mins - Barrera is on for Behrami. To be fair to Behrami, he sprints across the pitch to save valuable seconds.
75 mins - Jacobsen gets down the right and manages to squeeze the ball inside for Cole, who crosses, but Krul is there.
74 mins - Nearly a third for Newcastle. Noble is beaten to the ball by Barton and runs at the back two. He opts to shoot instead of passing to Carroll. The shot hits Gabbidon and spins over the crossbar. The Magpies keep up the pressure from the corner and a cross is headed over the top by Ameobi.
73 mins - No sign of a change of shape or a third substitution from the home side.
69 mins - GOAL! Carroll heads in, completely unmarked from six yards out. Poor defending. Barton receives the ball from Ameobi, who has dragged Gabbidon out of the middle. He crosses first-time and Carroll loses Da Costa before planting a powerful header past Green.
67 mins - McCarthy is on. Barton whips the free-kick over and Cole heads it behind for a corner.
66 mins - Piquionne is going to go off. McCarthy is called to the bench. Before his entrance, however, Da Costa is booked for a foul on Ameobi as the striker spins away from him 30 yards out.
64 mins - At last some West Ham pressure as Piquionne rises at the far post to head a Noble cross. He seems to injure himself as he lands, though, and needs the physio on for some treatment.
60 mins - Gutierrez finds Carroll inside the box, but Gabbidon does superbly to block his initial effort before bringing the ball clear. Fine defending, and it is met by some real noise from the home fans.
58 mins - West Ham are sitting too deep here, for some reason. They are inviting Newcastle on to them and it's handing the initiative to the opposition. Behrami and Da Costa both give the ball away under no pressure and Newcastle clear. Ameobi challenges Gabbidon and goes clear. Thankfully, a foul is given by the Newcastle forward and West Ham escape.
56 mins - Ilunga gets forward for the first time and sends over the ball into a dangerous area, but it's too far ahead of Cole and Piquionne and flies behind for a goal kick. The attendance is announced as 34,486.
53 mins - Upson goes straight down the tunnel. Ilunga is on at left-back and Gabbidon goes to the centre of defence.
51 mins - Gutierrez is a real threat down the left. He cuts inside and thankfully loses control of the ball inside the box, allowing Da Costa to clear. Moments later, Upson falls to the turf inside the West Ham penalty area with nobody near him. I'm not sure what's wrong, but I don't think it's serious as Upson is quickly up on his feet again. I'm not sure he's going to be able continue.
48 mins - Noble puts in a thunderous challenge on Simpson, who then lands on top of the midfielder. Noble looks a bit groggy as he gets up and goes to ground again. After a quick check over from the physio and club doctor, he is waved back on a minute later.
47 mins - Good football from the visitors. Barton lifts a ball to Nolan, who heads down for Carroll, but thankfully the big striker's volley lacks the power and direction to beat Green. The No1 dives low to his right to gather.
46 mins - After a short delay, we're back up and running again, with the Hammers attacking the Sir Trevor Brooking Stand end. Cole flicks on for Obinna, who crosses. Cole and Piquionne appear to get in each other's way and Newcastle clear the danger.
Half-time score - West Ham United 1-1 Newcastle United
47 mins - Gutierrez crosses and Carroll picks up possession. Newcastle keep the ball alive and Gabbidon is forced to head behind for a corner. It comes to nothing and the half-time whistle is blown. That half was a microcosm of the season so far. Some good stuff and some bad stuff. Let's hope we have plenty more of the former after the break.
46 mins - We are going to have at least another two minutes...
44 mins - Great work from Noble and Jacobsen wins the ball back. Noble then gets clear down the right from Parker's pass and he lifts his cross towards the far post, where Krul does well to grab the ball high above his head.
43 mins - Behrami finds Obinna with a peach of a pass. Obinna controls before winning another corner. A goal now would be priceless... Obinna crosses and Carroll does well to head clear from inside his own penalty area.
41 mins - It's been a good game for the neutral this, but when you're not a neutral, it's agony!
38 mins - Gabbidon finds Obinna inside the box again. He twists and turns before laying the ball back for Behrami, who dummies. Parker runs on to it and shoots first-time, but it's too high.
36 mins - Outstanding from Obinna, who beats no fewer than three Newcastle defenders before firing in a low cross that eludes Cole and Piquionne by inches before hitting a defender's heel and spinning out for a throw. Unlucky.
35 mins - West Ham need to get their act together here. Da Costa mis-judges a header and Gutierrez has acres of space to cut inside and shoot from the left. Jacobsen blocks and Gabbidon completes the clearance.
33 mins - Noble curls over his corner and Krul claims it high above Upson. Good catch, considering the conditions.
32 mins - Noble picks out Obinna down the inside-left channel with raking pass. Obinna has only Cole to aim for and elects to cross first-time, but it's too high. West Ham keep up the pressure and Obinna wins a corner.
29 mins - The Newcastle No18 is ready to resume. West Ham launch an attack down the right, but Obinna loses his footing in the rain and the chance is lost. It's all gone a bit quiet here at the Boleyn Ground.
28 mins - Gutierrez needs the physio on. He was hurt in a tackle with Parker. The winger hobbles to the touchline and we're back up and running again. Let's hope the break in play brings about a change in the momentum.
26 mins - Free-kick to West Ham 40 yards from goal as Noble is hauled back by Simpson. Noble himself curls the ball over and Piquionne wins it, but his header is off-target.
24 mins - That's a great chance for West Ham to re-take the lead. Piquionne races on to Cole's flick-on and checks before laying the ball back to Obinna. The Nigerian elects to shoot first-time and lifts the ball well over the top from 18 yards.
23 mins - GOAL! That was coming. Kevin Nolan does what he does best, breaking late into the box and smashing the ball into the bottom right-hand corner after Carroll had made a niusance of himself from a right-wing cross.
22 mins - West Ham need to get a foot-hold in this game again. The Magpies are having the bulk of possession, even if they haven't worked Green as yet. A spell of keep-ball would not go amiss.
20 mins - Cole has been penalised a couple of times for fouls, but this time he looks like the aggrieved party, heading the ball past Coloccini before appearing to be fouled by the Argentinean defender. Nothing given, however.
17 mins - Newcastle continue to press forward. Tiote picks the ball up 30 yards out and drives a ferocious shot that hits Parker on the head and spins behind for a corner. The flag-kick is deep and Williamson cannot keep the ball in the penalty area. The Hammers clear to Piquionne, but his attempted cross-field pass for Obinna is a bit over-ambitious.
16 mins - Newcastle are having a good spell here. Ameobi spins away from Da Costa but Behrami tracks back superbly and forces the striker wide. He still gets a low cross in, but it's an easy clearance for Jacobsen.
15 mins - The Newcastle players wanted an offside flag in the build-up to the goal. Piquionne looked level and Cole was definitely behind the ball when his partner shot across goal.
13 mins - Obinna cuts inside on his right foot and shoots... The ball flies out for a throw-in at least 20 yards the wrong side of the corner flag. The Nigerian gets an ironic cheer from the home fans.
12 mins - GOAL! Cole scores from a yard! Piquionne springs the offside trap to race on to Noble's fine pass. The Frenchman scuffs his left-footed shot across the face of goal and the England forward is there to apply the finishing touch from close-range.
11 mins - Green is taking a bit of stick off the Newcastle fans behind his goal, but he shuts them up by claimiing the ball high above Carroll.
9 mins - Just as was the case last weekend at Wolves, West Ham need to score while they are on top.
7 mins - Another minute, another chance. Obinna gets clear down the left and crosses low, where Piquionne's shot is blocked behind by Krul. The assistant referee had his flag up for offside though. It was the right decision, as Piquionne had strayed a yard or two beyond the back four.
6 mins - West Ham have started well, here. Behrami cuts inside and finds Piquionne, who knocks the ball into the path of Cole. The striker turns on to his left foot, but his shot from 14 yards is blocked by a defender. Moments later, Cole has the ball in the box again and goes down under a challenge from Williamson. The assistant referee flags, but it is for a foul by Cole, rather than on Cole.
4 mins - Piquionne springs the offside trap and crosses low towards Cole. The ball eludes the No9 and hits Obinna at the back post before looping into the hands of Krul. Close call, that. This is a very open start to the game...
3 mins - Newcastle win a free-kick just inside the West Ham half. It is won by Carroll but Gabbidon clears. Noble picks out Obinna, who tries to find Cole, but it comes to nothing.
2 mins - Tiote stops Noble's run with a cynical block. The free-kick comes to nothing, unfortunately.
1 min - Two long balls forward bounce through to Tim Krul in the Newcastle goal. Positive start from the Hammers...
5.32pm - We're underway.
5.30pm - The applause is superbly respected by both sets of players and fans. Brilliant to see. Well done everyone.
5.27pm - The legends line up for a photocall on the touchline. Brown and Bond are joined by the likes of Eddie Bovington, Martin Peters and Peter Brabrook. Speaking to them earlier this afternoon, the greats have got some superb stories to tell about their time at the Academy of Football. Of course, we are going to have a minute's applause in memory of the late Malcolm Allison, who died recently at the age of 83. We have also lost former England international and West Ham Chief Scout Eddie Baily.
5.26pm - The re-called Carlton Cole has good memories of playing against Newcastle. The England striker scored a magnificent goal in the 2-2 draw at St James' Park in January 2009 - the last time the two sides met.
5.25pm - The Newcastle fans are singing their hearts out in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower. They've brought a fair few fans today, to be fair to the Magpies. The Toon Army does travel in good numbers. 'Bubbles' starts to play and the home supporters respond with some noise of their own...Seconds later, the two teams emerge from the tunnel.
5.20pm - Kieron Dyer is on the big screens talking about the positive fight against racism in sport. Unfortunately, Dyer has been ruled out of today's game as the club continue to manage his comeback from long-term injury. Dyer has been in fantastic form this season and will hope to be back in action next Saturday.
5.18pm - Victory today would take West Ham above Newcastle and into 17th place. A massive win - 9-0 to be precise - would put the Hammers above Fulham and Blackburn Rovers into 15th. I think we'd all settle for a 1-0 success, though!
5.15pm - Kick-off is rapidly approaching and some of the greats are out on the pitch-side being interviewed. John Bond and Ken Brown are recounting the golden era of the late 1950s to mid 1960s. Remember those days? If you don't, West Ham won promotion to Division One in 1958 before going on to win the FA Cup in 1964 and European Cup Winners' Cup a year later.
Welcome to the Boleyn Ground for today's Barclays Premier League encounter. The club will honour Malcolm Allison before kick-off with a minute's applause. Allison, who served the club to distinction in the 1950s, died a week ago at the age of 83.
West Ham United manager Avram Grant has made three changes to the side that drew 1-1 at Wolves a week ago.
Captain Matthew Upson returns at the heart of the defence, with Danny Gabbidon moving to left-back and Tal Ben Haim dropping to the bench. Further forward, Valon Behrami makes his return from a knee injury in place of Kieron Dyer, while Victor Obinna moves to the left wing. Luis Boa Morte drops to the substitutes bench, with Carlton Cole returning to the starting XI up front.
West Ham United: Green, Jacobsen, Da Costa, Upson (Ilunga 53), Gabbidon, Behrami (Barrera 76), Parker, Noble, Obinna, Piquionne (McCarthy 67), Cole
Subs: Stech, Ben Haim, Faubert, Boa Morte
Newcastle United: Krul, Simpson, Jose Enrqiue, Coloccini, Williamson, Barton, Tiote, Jonas, Nolan, Carroll, Ameobi
Subs: Soderberg, Perch, Taylor, Guthrie, Routledge, Smith, Lovenkrands