Key events
57 min: Both sides make changes: Mavropanos comes on for Todibo. It’s not clear whether that was tactical or an injury. Todibo has probably been the poorest performer for West Ham tonight.
Tonali comes on for Longstaff. That’s a straight swap for Newcastle.
56 min: West Ham nearly add a third! Bowen shoots from 20 yards and only a good save from Pope stops another West Ham goal. What an away performance this is. They have soaked up plenty of pressure but haven’t conceded a lot of golden chances and have been clinical with their own opportunities.
Newcastle 0-2 West Ham (Wan-Bissaka 54)
The most unlikely of goalscorers! Just the third goal of the right-back’s career, in nearly 250 club appearances! Bruno Guimarães has his pocket picked by compatriot Paqueta in midfield. The Brazilian feeds Bowen, who finds Wan-Bissaka on the underlap … and the right-back finishes brilliant from a tight angle, arrowing a shot off the far post!
53 min: Gordon, sporting a mullet haircut that wouldn’t be out of place in the 2005 Australian cricket team, fires just wide after some good work from Barnes, who has been given plenty of space since coming on.
51 min: Summerville is a tricky character. The West Ham winger has been lively without any end product tonight.
48 min: Newcastle instantly on the offensive. Gordon breaks forward on the counter-attack, before Schar tries his luck from 40 (!) yards out. The Swiss has got previous from that range.
46 min: Newcastle have made one change: Harvey Barnes replaces Joe Willock. That means Barnes will play on the left, Gordon on the right, and Joelinton into central midfield.
Peeeeeeeep! We’re off again.
Half-time reading:
Half-time: Newcastle 0-1 West Ham
A very pleasing half for Julen Lopetegui.
45+2 min: West Ham win a couple of debatable free-kicks to eat through some of the time. Bowen tries his luck from range. This is a frustrating end to the half for Newcastle.
45 min: Three minutes added on for injury time.
43 min: West Ham get their foot on the ball. It looks like they have survived that spell. There are nervous glances of Howe and assistant on the sidelines. Good to see Jason Tindall getting his share of airtime.
41 min: It’s all Newcastle. West Ham are trying to hold on for half-time. Joelinton has swapped flanks with Gordon, who is now playing on the right.
39 min: Isak misses from 10 yards! Bruno Guimarães wins the ball back in midfield and plays a beautiful lofted pass to Isak, who takes the ball down on his chest and fires wide with his left foot. The Swede was reaching for the ball there, and put under pressure by the retreating Kilman and onrushing Fabianski, but you still would have expected him to bury that. Replays show Isak was onside.
35 min: Great save from Fabianski! Todibo fails to deal with simple Newcastle cross from the right, and gifts possession to Gordon on the six-yard box. But Fabianski is off his line in a flash and falls expertly at the feet of Gordon to block the shot!
33 min: Newcastle are getting closer. Hall flashes a cross-shot across West Ham’s six-yard box that avoids both the far post and Isak, lurking just beyond it. Could easily have been a tap-in for the Swede.
31 min: A good excuse for Antonio to remove his shirt without getting booked. His shirt has been ripped. Sky Sports commentator Seb Hutchinson, sometimes of this parish on Football Weekly, says Antonio has a custom shirt made to fit his neck, and that garment is more susceptible to ripping.
29 min: Newcastle growing back into this game. They are enjoying a lot of the ball, but haven’t created a lot with West Ham sitting deep in a 4-5-1 formation.
27 min: Looks like Antonio has taken my earlier comment to heart. The West Ham striker is now linking the play nicely and tearing around like a man possessed when Newcastle have the ball. Antonio chases Longstaff down and wins the ball back brilliantly, before setting West Ham off on the counter-attack.
24 min: In attempting to block Soler’s shot, Longstaff careered into Newcastle teammate Willock, who requires some treatment. Looks like Willock will be OK, though.
23 min: A wonderful flowing move from West Ham! Summerville, Paquetá and Soler exchange a trio of one-touch, slick passes on the edge of Newcastle’s box, which ends with the latter finding a pocket of space and firing wide. A good chance, spurned.
21 min: After Summerville is harshly penalised for tackling Longstaff, Lopetegui is given a yellow card for protesting too much on the sidelines. That means the Spanish manager will be suspended for the visit of Arsenal on Saturday!
19 min: Not sure I love seeing Joelinton playing in this right-wing role. He’s such a talented, chaotic menace in central midfield, alongside Bruno Guimarães. Newcastle do seem particularly well stocked in central midfield – Tonali is on the bench tonight – and particularly light at right wing. Almiron is out of favour, and Jacob Murphy is useful without being elite.
16 min: Back come Newcastle. Wan-Bissaka nods a poor defensive header straight to Willock, who bends an effort two yards wide of Fabianski’s far post.
14 min: Newcastle are reeling slightly, as West Ham push for a second! Antonio gets to the byline but his cut back is scrambled clear. The visitors win another corner, and surprisingly take it short. You would have thought West Ham would want to throw another cross into the mixer after the goal.
12 min: Now, then.
GOAL! Newcastle 0-1 West Ham (Soucek 10)
Out of nothing, West Ham are ahead! The visitors win a corner, from which Emerson swings in a cross to the penalty spot, where an unmarked Soucek nods into the far corner! Where was the marking? Kelly was the nearest defender but he didn’t even challenge the Czech.
7 min: Antonio looks miles off it. But West Ham are sitting very deep and the Jamaican international doesn’t have a great deal of support.
GOAL DISALLOWED!
5 min: Hall plays a brilliant ball from deep, and Isak drifts off the shoulder of Todibo to again run in behind. The Swede is through on goal and dinks the ball delicately over the onrushing Fabianski into the net. Oh! But the goal is ruled out for offside. Replays show that Isak was a few inches offside when running in behind. West Ham are playing a very high line, though. Dangerous against Isak.
4 min: The home side fashion the first half-chance as Joelinton slips in Isak, who runs in behind and shoots high and wide from a tight angle. Kilman marshalled Isak nicely there.
2 min: Lloyd Kelly, in his first start for Newcastle since September, wins the first header against Antonio.
Peeeeeeeep! And we’re off in the north-east.
The teams are out! Jarrod Bowen is the West Ham captain tonight.
Huge tifos for Isak are being unveiled at St James’ Park. Wow!
“Nice to see our Callum Wilson back from injury”, emails Chris Paraskevas. “The last time he was fit for Newcastle was around the time Henry II was ordering the big keep to be built in the city: didn’t bother visiting it when I was on Tyneside – went straight to the football and then had a few drinks at the Bigg Market. Wilson has an insane goal-scoring record against West Ham. I have a feeling they might cause us a couple of problems if we’re not ‘on it’ from the first whistle”.
Wilson is on the bench for Newcastle tonight. He has 12 goals in 14 appearances for West Ham since his first match against the Hammers (for Bournemouth) 2015-16.
It is 2024 and Michail Antonio, 34, is still leading the line for West Ham. Niclas Füllkrug is injured, remember. The German has made just four appearances his summer move and is yet to score for his new club.
This fixture last season was a cracker: Newcastle 4-3 West Ham.
Harvey Barnes is on the bench again tonight. The Englishman is a fine player but is not very versatile (doesn’t play on the right or through the middle) and is struggling to be first choice on the left ahead of Anthony Gordon.
Barnes also hasn’t committed for an international team, having played once for England’s senior team (in a friendly) back in 2020. The 26-year-old, in the prime of his career, is also eligible to represent Scotland.
The teams!
Newcastle: Pope, Livramento, Schar, Kelly, Hall, Longstaff, Guimaraes, Willock, Gordon, Isak, Joelinton.
Subs: Dubravka, Trippier, Tonali, Wilson, Barnes, Targett, Osula, Jacob Murphy, Almiron.
West Ham: Fabianski, Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Emerson Palmieri, Soucek, Bowen, Soler, Lucas Paqueta, Summerville, Antonio.
Subs: Areola, Cresswell, Coufal, Mavropanos, Luis Guilherme, Ings, Rodriguez, Irving, Scarles.
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)
Preamble
Which of the next two games for West Ham is an easier match for Julen Lopetgui and his team? Away at a resurgent Newcastle, who are fresh from three wins on the spin (against Chelsea, Arsenal and away at Nottingham Forest)? Or, this coming Saturday, a visit from the Gunners?
Truth is, neither is an enviable task. Yet it seems that Lopetegui has these two games to save his job after a summer of expensive recruitment and a poor start to the season.
West Ham are just three points above the relegation zone, while Newcastle will jump into the top six with a win tonight. There were some mild concerns about Eddie Howe’s position a few weeks ago after a poor run in October, but the return of fitness (particularly Alexander Isak) and form has meant the whispers of any change have faded in the north-east.
St James’ Park under the lights, rarely disappoints and for both teams, there is a little bit more on this early-season encounter than normal.
Kick-off: 8pm GMT.
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