Despite taking an early lead, Newcastle United lost 3-1 to struggling West Ham at the London Stadium. The Magpies initially led 1-0, with Jacob Murphy scoring after a fine pass from Bruno Guimarães and some impressive work down the right wing to fire home. However, West Ham leveled the score in the 35th minute when Lucas Paqueta confidently slotted home, and Sven Botman mistakenly slotted the ball into his own goal following a slip-up from the Dutchman.
Manager Eddie Howe made some ruthless decisions during the break, letting go Anthony Gordon, Emil Craft and Nick Waltemaid. Despite these significant changes in personnel and tactics, Newcastle faltered and lost on a day when West Ham’s fortunes were hard to believe. Tomas Soucek sealed a 3-1 victory for the home side in the dying seconds of stoppage time. Express Sport rates and predicts Newcastle players…
Nick Pope – 6
Without Pope’s save, this could have been a disaster, but he still spoiled the performance with Paqueta’s goal. Due to some mistakes in the final stages, West Ham conceded the third goal.
Emil Craft – 6
Craft is usually reliable, but he was out of form at the London Stadium. They struggled against Somerville and quickly paid the price at halftime.
Malik Thiau – 6
One of the featured performers on this day.
Sven Botman – 4
There has been a noticeable drop in performance since recent games. The own goal was shocking and they did not adapt well to changing the back three. To be honest, this was quite worrying.
Dan Byrne – 5
Wan-Bissaka was out of position when scoring the second goal on a free run. We fought hard on a tough afternoon.
Joelinton – 4
A rare display of anonymous. Somehow avoided the hook.
Bruno Guimarães – 5
He got off to a good start with some assists, but it was a tired performance and perhaps too many games.
Sandro Tonali – 6
They tried to bring about some calm, but too few people were on the same page as Italians. He finished the game at right-back.
Anthony Gordon – 6
They struggled for much of the first half, and Howe was brutally sent off after scoring just one goal in a sluggish first half.
Jacob Murphy – 5
An early opener was gone as Newcastle sank without a trace after the break. There was no answer.
Nick Waltemaid – 6
They showed some clean touches early on, but a failure to defend from the front may have cost them valuable damage on the half-time hook.
sub
Jacob Ramsey (Gordon 46) – 5
There is no effect.
Fabian Schaal (for Craft 46) – 6
Attempts were made to stabilize the sinking ship.
William Osla (for Woltemade 46) – 4
No impact.
Harvey Barnes (Botman 65) – 4
No impact.
