West Ham outplayed by rejuvenated Newcastle

West Ham 2-3 Newcastle Utd

 

Newcastle United squeezed home at the end in a game, where they should have been out of sight by half time.

Newcastle manager Steve Bruce was right when he said his side "could and should have had four or five by half time."

The problems began for West Ham in the 15th minute, when Issa Diop gave away a free kick on the left hand side. Jonjo Shelvey duly delivered , his cross being nodded back across by Miguel Almiron to Ciaran Clark who headed home.

Six minutes later home keeper Roberto came for a Jetro Willems cross, which he missed, allowing Federico Fernandez to head home.

A couple of minutes later, the big keeper made amends, coming out to save with his feet as Allan Saint-Maximin raced clear.

Maximin then seemed to be breaking away at will, gathering a long kick from Newcastle keeper Martin Dubravka, to bring another save out of Roberto.

Maximin finished the half, forcing Roberto to push a bending shot round the post.

West Ham's sole effort of note in the half was a Fabian Balbuena header that Dubravka pushed onto the bar.

After the break, any hopes of a West Ham revival were short lived, as five minutes in, Shelvey curled in a free kick from 25 yards.

The boos from the home crowd were growing, as the stadium began to empty.

West Ham did up the pressure in the last quarter, with Babuena side footing home an Anderson corner that had been nodded on by Sebastian Haller.

Then, with s couple of minutes to go Robert Snodgrass converted an Anderson pull back from the edge of the penalty area. But it was too little too late.

Bruce was full of praise for his front three players, who have taken a lot of criticism over recent weeks. "They didn't score but did everything but,"said a delighted Bruce, who explained how it takes time for players, especially when coming in from abroad, to adapt to Newcastle and the team.

West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini defended his goalkeeper, who could have been faulted on two of the goals.

The manager highlighted how things had not been right since the 4-0 drubbing away to Oxford United in the Caraboa Cup at the end of September. "We are not winning, confidence is not high and there is a lack of energy," said Pellegrini. "We must review what we are doing."