90’+5’Second Half ends, West Ham United 1, Newcastle United 5.90’+3’Attempt missed. Jacob Murphy (Newcastle United) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Callum Wilson.90’+2’Attempt blocked. Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Said Benrahma.90’+2’Corner, Newcastle United. Conceded by Lukasz Fabianski.90’+1’Goal! West Ham United 1, Newcastle United 5. Joelinton (Newcastle United) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Jacob Murphy with a through ball.89’Attempt missed. Said Benrahma (West Ham United) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Jarrod Bowen.88’Foul by Mark Noble (West Ham United).88’Mateo Kovacic (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Newcastle capitalised on West Ham’s poor defending to secure an emphatic 5-1 victory at London Stadium and pile the pressure on David Moyes’ side. Callum Wilson and Joelinton put the visitors two goals ahead within 15 minutes, before Kurt Zouma pulled one back for the Hammers. However, further blunders by Nayef Aguerd and Lukasz Fabianski allowed Wilson to double his tally and Alexander Isak to add a fourth, with Joelinton making it five in stoppage time.
The defeat leaves West Ham outside of the relegation zone on goal difference, alongside Everton, Nottingham Forest and 18th-place Bournemouth. Newcastle remain third and are now three points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham with a game in hand, following a fourth successive win for Eddie Howe’s side.
Hapless Hammers taken apart
The home side started well, with Jarrod Bowen forcing Bruno Guimaraes to turn the ball onto his own post inside the first minute. However, they were responsible for their own downfall when Thilo Kehrer headed a deep cross behind under no pressure, allowing Wilson to head in from 12 yards out for the opener. The second saw a single Fabian Schar long ball beat the whole backline, with Zouma failing to track Joelinton’s run while Emerson did not step up with his fellow defenders to play him offside. Joelinton rounded Fabianski to score and though initially flagged offside, it was allowed following a VAR check.
West Ham briefly woke up and pulled one back when Nick Pope was caught under a Bowen corner, allowing Zouma to powerfully head in and give some hope to the home fans. However, seconds into the second half Aguerd dawdled on a rolled ball from Fabianski, allowing Jacob Murphy to steal the ball and square for a Wilson tap-in. The defensive shambles coup de grace was saved for the fourth as the Polish keeper rushed out of his goal and miscontrolled a long ball, allowing Isak to lob into an empty net. By the final whistle London Stadium was half-empty, with Moyes left looking nervously over his shoulder.
Newcastle stay on top-four course
Wilson must love playing against West Ham – not only has he now scored 12 in his last 13 games against them, he continues to get one over on his podcast co-host Michail Antonio who he promised he would do the Macarena in celebration should he score – and he was as good as his word for the opener. This was a fourth straight league win for Howe’s side – the second time this season they have gone on such a run – and one which puts them firmly in the Champions League qualification driving seat. They did have to dig deep in the first half, Pope making a good save from a Lucas Paqueta free-kick shortly before a superb last-ditch tackle by Sven Botman denied Antonio. But West Ham’s farcical defending made the second 45 minutes much more comfortable for Newcastle, rounded off by Joelinton sprinting clear of the defence and firing low into the bottom corner past Fabianski.