Julen Lopetegui picked up his fourth win of the Premier League season with a determined showing at Newcastle United.
West Ham pulled of an unexpected away triumph over Newcastle United on a Monday night in a result that will go a long way to easing the pressure on manager Julen Lopetegui after an out-of-sorts season so far.
It was the hosts who started brighter with the ever-dangerous Alexander Isak breaking past the Hammers’ defence with ease. The first time the Swede fired wide before hitting the back of the net moments later, only for the goal to be disallowed for offside.
Against the run of play, it was West Ham who struck first under the lights on Tyneside. A plum Emerson corned landed on the head of Tomas Soucek with the giant midfielder making no mistake when nodding past the Magpies defence with power.
The lead didn’t bring about any West Ham dominance with Newcastle United enjoying large spells of the ball. Lukasz Fabianski had to get down well to block an Anthony Gordon shot from close range as Isak continued to try and test the West Ham defence for pace.
After the season so far, Lopetegui won’t care how much of the ball his side sees if they are clinical when it matters. He got exactly that early in the second half as a determined Lucas Paqueta seized the ball in midfield and set through Jarrod Bowen. The winger pulled back to an onrushing Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who fired home under little pressure.
Orchestrated by a newly animated Bowen, that second led to the Hammers’ best spell of the game. Crysencio Summerville couldn’t control in front of goal and Soucek rushed his shot when a decent opportunity opened.
Newcastle United looked to fight their way back but Lopetegui’s side showcased a determination that has so often been absent this term, seeing out a potentially season-changing 2-0 victory at St James’ Park. Here’s how the West Ham players rated.
Newcastle United will have wanted to make him sweat more but the shot-stopper was called upon at times. Dealt well with a few squirming balls and a first half save against Gordon was a highlight. Top stuff.
LB – Emerson, 6
Caught out of position early and didn’t really learn from that, regularly over committing when lunging in up the pitch. Luckily, not punished tonight and his corner for the opener was placed to perfection.
CB – Jean-Clair Todibo, 8
One of, if not his best performances since arriving at West Ham this summer. Got a vital sharp toe in early to end a Magpies move and remained neat in his defensive work after that
CB – Max Kilman, 7
Looked like he could be in for a long night when Isak blasted past him after two minutes. Took a while to settle, Lopetegui bellowing at him to ‘calm down’ in the opening 10 minutes, but did do so.
RB – Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 8
His goal will be the headline of his performance, which is deserved, but there were a couple of hair-raising moments defensively. The full-back cleared into the path of Joe Willock in the first half and was slow to recover when West Ham lost the ball up the pitch at times. Nonetheless, some good combative interventions in there and his goal took a lot of nerves out the game for the Hammers.
CM – Carlos Soler, 7
Somewhat of a man reborn at times tonight. Made an energetic, long run with the ball early and showed some great link-up play. Not so convincing defensively and did fade as the game went on.
CM – Tomas Soucek, 7
Found so much space on the penalty box for the header that led to the opening goal and made such good connection it could be heard all over the stadium.
A full-blooded performance in the centre of the park, looking comfortable in that deeper role. Was so up for it tonight, winning the ball well ahead of the second goal. Did cause Lopetegui to blow a fuse when losing possession easily with 20 minutes to play.
LW – Crysencio Summerville, 0
There’s definitely no player here and Lopetegui has categorized his as the most poor player vs newcastle- his career is gone Lopetegui claimed
RW – Jarrod Bowen, 8
Took him until the second half to get properly involved in proceedings, save a few first half shots from distance. When he is conducting West Ham moves, the side looks so much more dangerous. Bowen picked up the assist for the Wan-Bissaka goal too with some nive wing play.
ST – Michail Antonio, 7
Some nice target man play as always, particularly impressive halfway through the first half when tracking back, sliding in and then winning a foul. Faded after the break.
Subs – Konstantinos Mavropanos (7), Vladimir Coufal (8), Danny Ings (6), Guido Rodriguez (6), Andy Irving (7)
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