West Ham United’s unexpected 2-0 Premier League victory over in-form Newcastle United on Monday relieved some of the pressure on new manager Julen Lopetegui.
Thomas Soucek put West Ham ahead in the 10th minute with a header, and the visitors maintained their advantage by halftime, even though the home team had several promising opportunities.
Wan-Bissaka First Goal for West Ham
Newcastle started the second half strong, but they were taken by surprise when Aaron Wan-Bissaka surged forward to score West Ham’s second goal in the 53rd minute – this marked his first goal for the team.
West Ham gained assurance and rightfully earned their most significant win of a season that has been quite underwhelming thus far under Spaniard Lopetegui. With 15 points, they are still in 14th place, while Newcastle has 18 points, which puts them in 10th place.
Lopetegui Playing Style Under Scrutiny
The playing style of former Spain and Real Madrid manager Lopetegui has had difficulty gaining the support of West Ham’s fans, and two disappointing results prior to the international break left his team just 3 points clear of the relegation zone.
Turning Point for West Ham
Certain media reports indicated that Lopetegui was close to being dismissed, potentially after just two games, but his team reacted with a lively and precise performance that delighted the traveling supporters.
“I mentioned that we required a show of performance prior to the match, and I emphasized that we needed to demonstrate it, and I believe we accomplished that,” said Jarrod Bowen, captain of West Ham.
Newcastle consistently finds the net when playing at home, so we needed to maintain a clean sheet and score 2 goals. We had to show courage. I believe this reflects the standard required to compete for this club.
I believe this marks a significant turning point in the season.
Newcastle Missed Opportunities
Newcastle had an early goal by Alexander Isak ruled out for offside, which could have made the match challenging for West Ham.
However, not long after, Soucek found himself entirely unmarked in a packed penalty area, allowing him to score with a header from a corner, which quickly energized West Ham.
Chances Squandered by Newcastle
Newcastle, having secured three consecutive victories in all competitions, ought to have equalized when Sean Longstaff directed a good opportunity directly at West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, and Lewis Hall sent a shot wide across the goal.
Anthony Gordon could have performed better by not firing directly at Fabianski following a defensive blunder, while Isak sent a volley just off target after excellent play by Bruno Guimaraes.
West Ham Seals the Game
West Ham’s second goal eliminated any remaining momentum for the home team. Wan-Bissaka made a strong advance from deep and received an intelligent pass from Bowen before directing his shot past Nick Pope and into the net off the post.
Newcastle struggled to generate a significant reply as they missed the opportunity to climb into sixth position.
“We were the leading team at halftime, and the match would have played out quite differently if we had managed to equalise in the first half,” stated Newcastle manager Eddie Howe.
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