Newcastle 4 West Ham 3: Player Ratings

Newcastle 4 West Ham 3: Player Ratings from the Premier League game at St James Park

Areola:6 Dived the wrong way for the Isak penalty but really had no chance. Nothing to do aside from the pen but managed to pick up an injury.

Coufal:4 Terrible start. Immediately conceded penalty in the 2nd minute by fouling Gordon and Isak scored from the resulting penalty. Gave the ball away too many times then gave Gordon a free uncontested header from which he should have scored. Coufal v Gordon was a mismatch.

Mavropanos:8 Dominant at times and fast becoming West Ham’s best defender. Possibly out of position for Newcastle’s 3rd but the midfield should have cut out the pass.

Zouma:7 Made a couple of telling interceptions in the first half but still makes me nervous when he is pressed into passing quickly. Some excellent headed clearances but his long passing was awful and constantly gave possession to Newcastle United.

Emerson:7 Misses his mate Pequeta on the left but the team is more balanced as a result. Great clearing header.

Soucek:8 Put in a full defensive stint in midfield in the absence of Alvarez. Brilliantly timed tackle just before half time. His defensive work paved the way for The Hammers third. Immense and had a good chance to chest the winner in the 96th min.

Ward-Prowse:6 Possibly the least involved but played his part.

Paqueta:9 Incredible chipped pass for Antonio’s equaliser. Showed his ruthless streak by feigning a blow to the head by his Brazilian best mate Bruno Guimarães. Made the Geordie fans furious. Absolute pantomime villain. Outstanding.

Newcastle 4 West Ham 3: Paqueta was outstanding and frustrated Toon fans all afternoon

Bowen:8 Managed a snapshot but not really involved in the first half until 10 mins into injury time when he set-up Kudus for West Ham’s second. Scored at the start of the second half showing good composure.

Kudus:9 Looked fit and sharp from the off. Incredible solo run should have yielded a freekick. Won the foul and scored a goal from the corresponding freekick.

Antonio:7 Smart turn at the start of the game but blazed over. Scored a great goal on 20 mins following a great pass from Paqueta and showed great composure.

Substitutes

Fabianski:4 On at half time. Made a good save on 72 mins from Harvey Barnes after Coufal had lost his man again. Forced into action again during a goalmouth scramble. Like Areola, beaten by an Alexander Isak penalty. Not great for the Harvey Barnes goal and the Toons 3rd. No chance with Barnes curling 4th

Phillips:2 67th min sub for Michail Antonio. Conceded a penalty straight away after he was too slow to clear the ball and kicked Gordon who was very clever. Maybe Phillips was unlucky with VAR but Gordon had already done the same earlier in the game. Awful for Newcastle’s 4th

Johnson:5 83rd min sub for Ward Prowse

Ings: 93rd min sub for Coufal

What a humdinger. West Ham were 3-1 up and conspired to throw it away. A penny for Hughies thoughts x