Newcastle 0 West Ham 2 – An international break when we were building momentum didn’t help but… | OneFootball

Newcastle 0 West Ham 2 – Monday 25 November 8pm

We played well in the first half, apart from terrible defending at a 10th-minute corner that led to Soucek heading home for West Ham.

For a while we were stopped in our tracks, with the decision to disallow an Isak goal in the sixth minute looking more important as our dominance faded.

Where were the VAR lines that every Newcastle fan wanted to see, because Isak did not look offside? A mere 45 seconds to confirm such a tight call seemed extremely hasty.

Bowen, Summerville and Antonio were a handful, while Paqueta was winning the battle of the Brazilian midfielders

Gordon struggled to make an impact but Livramento and Hall were providing plenty of threat on the flanks.

Last-gasp defending kept us out until half-time, when Barnes replaced Willock, who had been accidentally clattered by Longstaff in one of West Ham’s rare attacks.

The substitute started on the left and Gordon stayed to the right, where he had ended the first half.

Chances came and went until the visitors swooped to score again. Paqueta nicked the ball from Guimaraes in midfield and found Bowen. He advanced, took out two defenders with a perfectly timed pass inside and Wan-Bissaka did the rest, firing across Pope into the far corner.

Longstaff was replaced by Tonali almost immediately but the Magpies were struggling badly to contain the Hammers, especially Bowen.

Gordon took a free role behind Isak, with Joelinton wider on the right. Livramento broke well but his cross from the right was inches too high for Isak to keep his header on target.

With 30 minutes left the game already looked beyond us. On 69 minutes Wilson and Murphy replaced Joelinton and Gordon, who had been poor since half-time.

A Murphy cross led to Wilson being barged over by Mavropanos, who had replaced Todibo in central defence. The sub was in no position to reach the ball but neither the ref nor VAR saw it as a penalty.

Antonio and Emerson made way for Ings and Coufal on 75 minutes.

Our midfield looked jaded whenever West Ham attacked in the later stages. A Hall shot from a short corner flew well wide when a cross to Barnes at the back post was the better option.

That summed up a lot of our play; failing to test Fabianski and lacking accuracy in our passing, especially after the interval.

Meanwhile, Bowen continued to star for the visitors, barely losing possession all night, helping to win the corner for the first goal and earning an assist for the second.

In the final minutes Trippier replaced a limping Guimaraes. Hall stepped into midfield. The game drifted towards its depressing conclusion with Fabianski having made only two saves all night.

An international break just when we were building momentum certainly didn’t help but that cannot excuse one of our least effective displays of 2024.

In the six minutes of stoppage time a Schar cross fell to Isak, whose mis-hit shot epitomised a misfiring team.

The visitors deserved the three points for being clinical and determined against increasingly lacklustre hosts.

A Palace team running into form will be a stern test on Saturday.

Newcastle 0 West Ham 2 – Monday 25 November 8pm

(Stats via BBC Sport)

Goals:

Newcastle United:

West Ham:

Soucek 10, Wan-Bissaka 53

Possession was Newcastle 52% West Ham 48%

Total shots were Newcastle 18 West Ham 15

Shots on target were Newcastle 2 West Ham 6

Corners were Newcastle 8 West Ham 3

Touches in the box Newcastle 35 West Ham 17

Newcastle United team v West Ham

Pope; Livramento, Schar, Kelly, Hall; Longstaff (Tonali 57), Bruno (Trippier 84), Willock (Barnes 46), Gordon (Wilson 68), Isak, Joelinton (Murphy 69)

Unused Subs:

Targett, Dubravka, Almiron, Osula

Newcastle United upcoming matches confirmed to end of January 2025:

Saturday 30 November – Crystal Palace v Newcastle (3pm)

Wednesday 4 December – Newcastle v Liverpool (7.30pm) Amazon

Saturday 7 December – Brentford v Newcastle (3pm)

Saturday 14 December – Newcastle v Leicester (3pm)

Wednesday 18 December – Newcastle v Brentford (7.45pm) Sky Sports+ (Carabao Cup)

Saturday 21 December – Ipswich v Newcastle (3pm)

Thursday 26 December – Newcastle v Villa (3pm) Amazon

Monday 30 December – Man U v Newcastle (8pm) Sky Sports

Saturday 4 January – Tottenham v Newcastle (12.30pm) TNT Sports

Wednesday 15 January – Newcastle v Wolves (7.30pm) TNT Sports

Saturday 18 January – Newcastle v Bournemouth (12.30pm) TNT Sports