West Ham blitzed as slick Newcastle exploit litany of defensive mishaps
West Ham (1) 1 Zouma 40
Newcastle United (2) 5 Wilson 6, 46 Joelinton 14, 90, Izak 82
West Ham remain very much in the thick of this year’s colossal relegation scrap after being thoroughly taken to the cleaners by a highly impressive Newcastle.
Hopes that the Hammers might build on Sunday’s vital win over Southampton were quickly punctured by goals from Callum Wilson and Joelinton, and although Kurt Zouma scored before half time to halve the deficit, a shambles at the back gifted Eddie Howe’s men a crucial third at the start of the second half.
Another horrible mistake capped a dreadful night for the Irons when Fabianski rushed out to try and clear, but only succeeded in teeing up a simple lob from Alexander Isak – one of the subs - before Joelinton rubbed salt into those very raw wounds by adding a fifth at the death.
This was the sort of result that causes panic in the ranks at boardroom level and David Moyes knows his fate must be in the balance at the very least after such a mauling.
This was a night when the Magpies underlined their Champions League qualification credentials with a highly-polished display but the Irons did not help themselves with their defensive errors.
At least two of the goals they conceded were comical and home fans deserted in droves long before the end.
In stark contrast to Sunday’s soporific ambience, there seemed a real buzz about the London Stadium under the lights and the fans’ mood appeared to transmit to the players.
Jarrod Bowen’s lung-bursting run down the right took him past Dan Burn and his low cross was almost put into his own net by Bruno Guimaraes – the stretching Brazilian seeing his interception come back off the near post.
But it was very much a false dawn. The Magpies stole into an early lead when, following a corner, Allan Saint-Maximin cut in from the right edge of the area to find the head of an unmarked Wilson.
So often the scourge of the Hammers, it was the striker’s 11th goal in 13 outings against them and more was to come from him.
Worse was to follow for Moyes’ men when Joelinton rounded Lukasz Fabianski from a Fabian Schar pass from deep and rolled the ball home to double the lead.
Initially flagged offside, a VAR intervention showed that Emerson was playing him onside on the far touchline.
The West Ham boss was raging after another costly moment.
The Irons badly needed a lift and almost got it when Lucas Paqueta bent a low free-kick around the defensive wall to test a diving Nick Pope.
In the end it was a simple Zouma header from a Bowen corner which offered them a way back into the contest.
But the hope was quickly undone after the break – 22 seconds into restart to be precise - after a catastrophic piece of defending to gift Wilson his second of the evening.
Fabianski rolled the ball out to Nayef Aguerd but Sunday's matchwinner was no hero this time as he allowed Jacob Murphy to steal the ball off him with ease and whip the ball across to the unmarked goalscorer.
This time, Moyes almost sank to his knees in disbelief.
Only a fine save from Fabianski denied Murphy at the end of the slickest of moves that oozed quality and superiority and the keeper’s fingertips also denied Saint-Maximin from rattling in from the edge of the area.
Moyes made a quadruple substitution to try and find a way back – Michail Antonio among those hooked, having not been able to profit from being preferred to Danny Ings in the starting XI.
But the night only got worse for the under-0fire Scot, who may be fearing the worst after this.
Hammers: (4-3-3) Fabianski – Kehrer (Coufal 63), Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson – Paqueta, Rice, Soucek (Downes 63) – Bowen, Antonio (Ings 63), Benrahma (Cornet 63). Subs not used: Areola, Cresswell, Fornals, Lanzini, Ogbonna
Magpies: (4-3-3) Pope – Trippier (Manquillo 87), Schar, Botman, Burn (Targett 85) – S Longstaff, Guimaraes, Joelinton – Murphy (Willock 64), Wilson (Izak 64), Saint-Maximin (Gordon 64). Subs not used: Dubravka, Lascelles, Ritchie, Anderson
