West Ham’s hopes of qualifying for the next season edition of Champions League suffered a huge blow on Saturday following a dramatic 3-2 loss to Newcastle, at the St James’ park.
David Moyes’ West Ham side bottled the chance to move up to third in the premier league table ahead of Leicester City.
The Newcastle side, who is battling with relegation, started the game with huge possession of the ball. Allan Saint-Maximin, the Newcastle forward threatened the West Ham defence everytime he had the ball.
Newcastle eventually broke the deadlock through Issa Diop own goal in the 37th minute. It was a dramatic sequence of play as West Ham’s defender, Craig Dawson was sent off for a rough tackle he made in the build up to the goal. West Ham did not only conceded a goal but also had their defender red carded. Dawson has now received his first ever red card in his 345 appearances in the Premier league.
Newcastle went on to score the second goal through Joelinton who tap-in from a yard out to give his side a two-goal advantage before the break.
However, it looked like West Ham was going to complete a comeback over the relegation threatened side as they dragged themselves back into the game through Diop in the 73rd minutes.
Diop atoned for his earlier mistake by heading in a cross from Bowen.
Seven minutes after, the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), awarded West Ham a penalty after check for handball against Ciaran Clark. Jesse Lingard levelled the scoreline as he converted from the spot.
The game looked to be in West Ham’s favour until Willock, who came on from the bench, headed in a wonderful cross from Ritchie to ensure that Newcastle bagged all three points.
The victory saw Newcastle move nine points above the relegation zone with six game remaining, while West Ham stayed fourth with 55 points.
Following the win, Newcastle has now recorded a league double over West Ham for the fifth time; 1993/94 season; 1994/95 season; 2010/11 season; 2017/18 season and 2020/21 season.
