Hammers breathe new life into grim campaign with crucial comeback win over Magpies
- By Yann Tear at the London Stadium
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Premier League
West Ham United (2) 3 Paqueta 35, Botman og 45+5, Soucek 98
Newcastle United (1) 1 Murphy 4
The leaflets doing the rounds ahead of kick-off spoke of the gloom surrounding the London Stadium these days. Hammers fans had organised a 'sit-in' protest at full-time against the Sullivan-Brady regime running the club.
The near funereal silence for many of the opening passages, along with thousands of empty seats also told the tale of an ailing outfit desperately trying to find its way out of a slough of despond .
Seven defeats in the opening nine games and four straight losses at home were the stuff of nightmares so this one could not have been more important for new boss Nuno Espirito Santo.
To their credit, they overcame this unhappy backdrop and the loss of an early goal to claim their first home win of the season. Not enough to lift them out of the bottom three, but absolutely vital in terms of giving themselves - and Nuno, of course - a much-needed kick-start.
The Irons could not catch a break in the opening 15 minutes. Just seconds after Jarrod Bowen had rattled a post with a thundering drive, the Magpies raced up the other end to take the lead - Jacob Murphy waltzing around a very static El Hadji Diouf before arrowing into the far bottom corner.
And further disappointment was soon to follow as a penalty awarded by ref Rob Jones was overturned on VAR inspection as defender Malick Thiaw got a toe to the ball before Bowen tumbled over the United defender's outstretched leg.
Was this one heading for yet another Hammers home defeat? Murphy almost made it 2-0, drawing a good save from Alphonse Areola at his near post after big German striker Nick Woltemade had fed the winger to expose the left side of the Hammers' defence once more.
Lucas Paqueta wasn't very far away from changing the script though, first from a low-free-kick towards the bottom corner, with Nick Pope getting down well to save and as the spirited response continued, Max Kilman's header at the subsequent flag kick needed Pope to be alert again to push over.
The Irons deserved an equaliser and it arrived when Pope's punch out did not go far enough from goal and Paqueta took full advantage after being teed up by Matheus Fernandes - placing his 22-yard shot neatly past United's keeper.
Next, it was Areola's turn to become saviour when he clawed away Anthony Gordon's firmly struck shot and the turnaround in fortunes was completed just before the interval when Aaron Wan-Bissaka's low cross from the right was turned into his own net by a prone Sven Botman.
Eddie Howe made a triple substitution at the interval but the visitors' subsequent spell of pressure was resisted before the Hammers began to venture forward again. Freddie Potts had the ball in the net for what would have been his first goal for the club but an offside flag came to the Magpies' rescue.
Tomas Soucek bundled in that third goal in injury time after Bowen's shot had been half stopped by Pope but ran on for the Czech midfielder to nudge home before the keeper could recover.
The key thing though was that Newcastle simply did not threaten during the second half. They are without an away win this season and on today's evidence, it is easy to see why. The Irons will not care a bit about the opposition. Today was all about getting their season going.
Hammers: (4-2-3-1) Areola - Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Diouf - Potts, Paqueta - Bowen, Fernandes (Julio 85), Summerville (Walker-Peters 78) - Wilson (Soucek 61)
Magpies: (4-3-3) Pope - Krafth (Schar h/t), Thiaw, Botman (Barnes 65), Burn - Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton - Murphy (Elanga 77), Woltemade (Osula h/t), Gordon (Ramsey h/t)
