West Ham 3-1 Newcastle United
Areola:6 Called into action on 38 mins with a very good save from a long range Gordon shot. Made another telling save from Joelinton just before halftime. Didn’t have too much to do. but made a comfortable catch in the 89th min.
Wan Bissaka:8 At times looked more like the player who won player of the season last campaign. Put a cross over just before halftime which was deflected into the goal by Botman to put West Ham 2-1 up at halftime.
Todibo:8 Started with intensity by winning two headers and a tackle within the first two minutes despite playing at left centre back. The first half was possibly the best I’ve seen him play in a claret & blue shirt.
Kilman:8 I swear at times Kilman was being asked to play at right back when in possession with Todibo the only defender. Sloppy passing on occasions. Good header from Freddie Potts corner forced another save from Pope. Won a couple of important headers defending the magpies corners and really grew into the game.
Diouf:5 Turned inside out following poor positioning allowed Murphy to score after 4 minutes to put Newcastle ahead. Over successive games now, Diouf looks like an attacking wing-back being asked to play at full-back. At the heart of more shambolic defending as Newcastle win their first corner which thankfully we defended well enough. The obvious weak link in the team and could have been substituted after 20 mins. Did produce a good cross after half an hour and looked okay on the front foot. Excellent cross for Kilman almost got West Ham a third. I really appreciated how Diouf battled back from a terrible start to the game.
Potts:8 Looked to pass forward and made a telling tackle on Tonali to start a Hammers attack which was wrongly ruled out for offside. Continued to tackle well and didn’t look out of place against one of the best midfields in the Premier League. Had the ball in the back of the net following a knock-down from Soucek but ruled out for offside. Nailed on to start the next game based on this performance.
Fernandes:8 Looked lively and won a couple of important midfield battles. Became increasingly influential in the first half and dictated possession with Potts very well. The ball through for Wan Bissaka for the Hammers second was delicious.
West Ham 3-1 Newcastle United: Fernandes helped the Irons counter Eddie Howe’s impressive midfield
Paqueta:9 Looked better and linked well with Fernandes. Tested Pope with an excellent freekick. Scored a magnificent goal following a good spell of pressure when West Ham were the better team.
Bowen:8 Hit the post with an excellent shot after only 3 minutes following good work by Summerville. Then nearby won penalty following good work from Wan Bissaka after 11 mins. At times, Bowen looked back to his best. Set up Summerville with a half chance at the start of the second period. Snatched at a shot during injury time but was hugely influential throughout the game.
Summerville:6 A mixed performance but won a freekick in a good position following a decent dribble. Had a long shot later in the half and looked lively.
Wilson:6 Forced Pope into a save on 9 mins. At times, linked the play quite well. Outmuscled at times but gave everything as did his teammates.
Wilson battled well on his own up front.
Substitutes
Soucek:6 60th min substitute for Wilson. Forced Pope into a reflex save following a Paqueta freekick. Like a fish out of water as striker at times but gave everything and scored to make it 3-1 in injury time.
Walker Peters:5 78th min swap for Summerville with West Ham 2-1 up.
Igor: Relaced the excellent Fernandes on 84 mins.
I can’t see how Malik can be blamed for being in position look at the replay. Where the players are when Bowe’s shot canons off the post that’s is very telling in my opinion.
I’d suggest it was Kilman who’d ventured over half way toward the Magpies’ goal who was out of position!
What a great day for the Potts family.
Let’s keep it simple
So COYI.
Going to enjoy the evening with s beer or two
Funny how your team winning lightens the mood
At last, what a relief. I guess we have to be realistic with some difficult games coming up after the international break, but a decent win in the 6 pointer against Burnley would see us out of the bottom three. After that, if this team can build on what they have now shown us they are capable of, they should not fear any team in the lower half of the table. A couple of carefully chosen additions in January will help. This remains in spite of the board rather than because of anything they have done.
I’m in shock? We were brilliant, we’d beat anyone if we played like this? The whole team were amazing. Speechless⚒️⚒️⚒️⚒️
@FiskyBoy. Why are you asking us? Can’t tell if you are in shock or not, sorry. But, yes, we were pretty good and we might have a chance of beating some other teams. You didn’t ask if we are happy Hammers. If you had asked I would have said YES!
SOOOOO much better. Bowen ran himself into the ground, as ever, a ten out of ten in my book. Nuno instilling some aggression, belief and desire into the team. The start of things to come i believe.
What a relief ! West Ham win a game, & win it well. Thoroughly deserved. Where did they suddenly get a defence from ? I said that they were a team without a defence, but today they had a pretty effective one. Other than that, I agree with your marks – although I generally marked each player one less point than you did. Paqueta was my man of the match & I was very pleased with Potts’s performance. Not to mention the result !
Happy with that, Fernandes and Potts were excellent
How much better were Kilman and Toligo today why?because they had the support of a mobile midfield that had the legs to to get up and down the pitch and put tackles in, need to now beat Burnley next week
Why the hell didn’t we field that line up in the last two games.
you and I have been banging on about it for weeks!
Now we just need to remove the oxygen from the “Anti-Royalists” and “Communists” [I know, it is only a joke – MT].. arranging sit outs and sit ins. Then we can all bang on about the football and create our own heroes of today. Well played Martin.