Newcastle United vs West Ham United. Premier League.
St James' Park, Newcastle.
Report as Newcastle strike late to dent West Ham's Champions League charge in thriller; Newcastle led 2-0 at the break; Craig Dawson sent off for two bookings; 10-man Hammers roared back in the second half; but sub Joe Willock's late header gave Newcastle all three points
Saturday 17 April 2021 19:38, UK
West Ham's Champions League hopes were dealt a blow as Newcastle boosted their own hopes of staying in the Premier League with a dramatic 3-2 victory over the 10-man Hammers at St James' Park.
David Moyes' side - who had the chance to move up to third in the table, four points ahead of fifth-placed Chelsea - sent Newcastle on their way to victory as Issa Diop's hapless own goal gave them the lead.
It was a double blow for the visitors as Craig Dawson, who had earlier been booked for a foul on Joelinton, brought down the Newcastle forward again in the build-up to the first goal and he was dismissed for a second yellow card.
It was to get worse for Moyes and his side just before the break as Lukasz Fabianski spilled Matt Ritchie's routine corner to hand Joelinton a tap-in from close range.
However, after the break, West Ham roared back as Diop's header (73) and Jesse Lingard's penalty (80), after VAR spotted a handball from Ciaran Clark, restored parity.
In a thrilling finale, Newcastle thought they had blown their chance of victory when Ben Johnson cleared Jacob Murphy's shot off the line, but there was still time for substitute Joe Willock to head the hosts to all three points (82).
Victory sees Newcastle move nine points clear of the relegation places with just six games remaining, while West Ham stay fourth, but defeat leaves their Champions league hopes firmly in the balance ahead of a crucial clash with fifth-placed Chelsea next Saturday, live on Sky Sports.
Newcastle looked the likelier of the two sides to grab a goal in the opening stages with Allan Saint-Maximin looking a threat every time he got on the ball.
Dawson was forced into a rash challenge, picking up a booking after Jarrod Bowen gifted possession to Joelinton, and Fabianski was the busier of the two goalkeepers, making routine saves to deny, Murphy and Saint-Maximin.
Newcastle eventually took the lead nine minutes before the break and it came from Dawson's heavy touch just inside his own half. In his efforts to win the ball back, he brought down Joelintom, who managed to flick the ball into the path of Saint-Maximin.
Referee Kevin Friend allowed play to continue and Saint-Maximin drove past Mark Noble and into the penalty area before sending the ball towards goal, where a combination of Diop and Fabianski failed to keep the ball out. It led to the defender getting his feet into a tangle as he bundled the ball into his own net.
It was a double whammy for the Hammers as the referee went back to hand Dawson a second yellow card to leave Moyes' side to play out the rest of the match with 10 men.
The visitors then gifted Newcastle a second five minutes later when Fabianski inexplicably spilled Ritchie's corner to hand Joelinton a simple tap-in from one yard out to send Bruce's men in at the break with a two-goal advantage.
Despite their numerical disadvantage, West Ham started with more urgency after the break and Vladimir Coufal had a glorious chance to get a goal back, but his header was saved by Martin Dubravka.
The visitors eventually dragged themselves back into it with 17 minutes remaining when Diop atoned for his earlier mishap, heading Bowen's cross down and past Dubravka to give the Hammers a lifeline.
Having had to fight off a number of comebacks in recent weeks, West Ham were mounting one of their own and they were awarded an 80th-minute penalty for handball against defender Clark after a VAR check, and man-of-the-moment Lingard made no mistake from the spot.
It set up a grandstand finish, and Newcastle would have been forgiven for thinking their chance might have gone when Johnson brilliantly cleared Murphy's strike off the line, but three minutes after Lingard's penalty, they had the lead again.
Substitute Willock headed Ritchie's cross past Fabianski seconds after coming on to break West Ham hearts and send Newcastle up to 15th and within touching distance of safety.
Sky Sports' Graeme Souness:
"It's enormous for Newcastle. I think that will be enough for them.
"West Brom, who had a bit of momentum, will see this as a real kick in the teeth, as will Fulham.
"They did it in a fashion that won't make Steve Bruce too happy; they were in the driving seat and then completely lost the plot, but they got there.
"They got a couple of slices of luck and they'll take it."
Newcastle manager Steve Bruce: "I've always said this job comes with a government health warning. I couldn't have been more pleased at half-time when we played the way we did. We were arguably better against 11 than we were 10, and how often do you see that.
"The situation, the human nature is to defend what you've got and go deep, and we were wasteful just after half time. We had two or three opportunities and were wasteful and that gave West Ham the opportunity, and to be fair to them, they've got themselves back in the game and made it one of those awful afternoons.
"But thankfully we've redeemed ourselves. It was difficult but I'm relieved."
West Ham boss David Moyes: "I thought the players showed great character. They came from 2-0 down with 10 men and got right back into the game. There are a lot of good things from it.
"Obviously, we gave away a couple of really poor goals in the first half, then the sending off adds to it as well, but we kept at it and we didn't change.
"We altered things a little bit at half time, but I thought the players put up a great effort, I really did.
"There's no drama. We're not getting too down about it. We've had a couple of really good results, we're doing ok. We think that's probably a chance lost to pick up some points, but it is very hard with 10 men.
"I thought the players did a great job to get back into it. Probably the disappointment is that when we got to 2-2, we couldn't see that last little bit out.
On if this was a missed opportunity: "There's no frustration whatsoever. The players are doing brilliant, we're at it, we came, and we put on a good performance. We didn't get the result we wanted but overall, the players are doing a good job.
"We're without a few injured players and we've put on another decent show. We want to keep trying to score goals, but we need to stop conceding them as well."
West Ham face a crucial clash in the race for Champions league qualification when they welcome London rivals Chelsea to the London Stadium, live on Sky Sports next Saturday (kick off 5.30pm).
Meanwhile, Newcastle face a trip to Anfield to face Liverpool, also on Saturday; kick off 12.30pm.
