LONDON – Nuno Espirito Santo recorded his first win as West Ham manager on Sunday as his side completed a 3-1 win over Newcastle United at the London Stadium.
The game started poorly for West Ham when Jarrod Bowen’s shot hit the post after just a minute, and Jacob Murphy found himself past El Hadji Diouf with great ease before Eddie Howe’s side gave the lead inside five minutes.
West Ham then had a penalty disallowed with Bowen again midway through the game, with referee Robert Jones seeing that Malik Thiaw had handled the ball before bringing down the England striker.
A powerful shot from Paqueta from outside the penalty area and an own goal from Sven Botman gave Nuno’s side the lead before half-time.
In contrast to their defensive record so far this season, West Ham maintained their lead in a second half that saw Newcastle struggle to trouble Alphonse Areola in goal.
Seven minutes into stoppage time, Tomas Soucek sealed the win for the hosts as Newcastle continued their search for an equaliser.
Despite the result, West Ham found themselves rooted inside the relegation zone while Newcastle remained in the bottom half after their fourth defeat of a stalled season.
Paquita is the protagonist of West Ham
If the Premier League needed a reminder of what the old midfield looks like, Paqueta provided exactly that on Sunday.
Against one of the strongest midfields in the league, Bruno Guimarães, Joelinton and Sandro Tonali, Paqueta excelled.
West Ham entered the match with only one win in its first nine matches, with Espirito Santo saying in his pre-match program that his team needed to be “braver”.
Paqueta embodied exactly what his boss was looking for, as he single-handedly pulled West Ham forward. He won four of his seven duels and completed the most passes for his team in an action-packed first half.
So, when Nick Pope sent in a cross from Summerville just after the half-hour mark and Matheus Fernandes headed into Paqueta’s path, West Ham fans could only feel one score.
The powerful shot from outside the penalty area past Pope was a shock that shook the stadium, which had yet to see their team pick up the point they needed at home all season.
There have been reports of the Brazilian wanting a move away from West Ham, and in the week that the FA ended the points-fixing case against him with a mere warning, Paqueta showed how important it is for West Ham to retain him in January if they are to finish this season while maintaining their Premier League status.
Newcastle’s attacking problems continue
After losing Alexander Isak to Liverpool in the summer, Newcastle’s new No.9, Nick Woltmad, has more than achieved success with six goals in all competitions.
However, there is one man who is not going forward, and Eddie Howe made his feelings about his forward line clear in the first half.
Woltemade, who registered a team-low 14 touches in a sluggish first half and Anthony Gordon, who failed to create a chance in the first 45 with two misses, were hooked by Will Osula and Jacob Ramsey respectively. Anthony Elanga and Harvey Barnes were later added to the mix but to no avail.
Outside of Woltemade, only three players have scored league goals for the Geordies this season, Guimarães with three, then Murphy and Osula with one each. For a team competing in the Champions League with four ambitions, that’s simply not good enough.
Facing a team with the worst defensive record in the league, it will be a concern for Howe that, barring Murphy’s early strike, it has been the Hammers who have continued to create the clearer chances.
Gordon, Elanga, Barnes and Ramsey remain without a goal contribution in the league after Sunday’s defeat and after a straightforward second half going forward, Howe will need to find a more sustainable attacking outlook if Newcastle are to maintain their European and Champions League run this season.
