Newcastle 1-1 West Ham: Lucas Paqueta cancels out Callum Wilson opener as points shared at St. James’ Park

A below-par Newcastle were held to a draw by West Ham at St James’ Park on Saturday evening.

Newcastle had an incredible start with Joe Willock putting the ball in the net in the first minute, only for the goal to be disallowed via VAR due to the ball being brought back from beyond the by-line by Miguel Almiron.

Almost instantly, however, they did take the lead as Sean Longstaff’s fine through-ball gave Callum Wilson the opportunity to slam past Lukasz Fabianski and put the Magpies in front.

For the rest of the half, West Ham were the better side though and thoroughly deserved the equaliser from Lucas Paqueta just after the half-hour mark.

Anthony Gordon made his debut midway through the second half and immediately gave his new side a lift as they piled on the pressure in the closing stages and the former Everton man almost set up a winner for Wilson who was denied an effort on goal by Nayef Aguerd’s tackle.

The result sees Newcastle slip to fourth place, while West Ham rise to 16th.

TALKING POINT

Gordon so suited to super sub role – The Everton signing could not make a difference today still showed how important he could prove over the rest of the season. There is no one quicker than the £45 million signing and while he might not have a rounded game to push Almiron out of the side given his recent form, he is also the more direct and terrifying presence for tired defenders in the last third or quarter of games. Rodrygo of Real Madrid is the gold standard at present and while Gordon could not be expected to have his impact, only Manchester City have as dangerous a presence to change games in the closing stages. He was electric when he came on and without even getting the opportunity to show his trademark direct dribbling, his passes fizzed into team-mates’ feet and Wilson should have done better when he put him through on goal.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH

Nayef Aguerd (West Ham) – There will have been Hammers fans unhappy at letting go popular whole-hearted defender Craig Dawson to Wolves (a point emphasised when he scored again earlier today), but David Moyes should be trusted with defensive recruits and Aguerd looks a fine one. As good as Dawson was for the Hammers, there is no way he would have caught Wilson and made the goal-saving challenge the Moroccan did in the second half.

PLAYER RATINGS

Newcastle: Pope 6; Trippier 7, Schar 6, Botman 6, Burn 6; Longstaff 7, Willock 6, Joelinton 6; Almiron 6, Saint-Maximin 6; Wilson 6.

Subs: Gordon 7, Murphy 6, Anderson 6.

West Ham: Fabianski 7; Coufal 7, Kehrer 6, Ogbonna 7, Aguerd 8*, Emerson 6; Paqueta 6, Rice 7; Bowen 6, Benrahma 6; Antonio 6.

Subs: Johnson 6, Soucek 6, Fornals 6, Ings 6, Downes 6.

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

1′ GOAL FOR NEWCASTLE! Almiron pulls the ball back for Willock who slams home.. VAR are checking if the ball was out of play.

2′ GOAL DISALLOWED! The ball was out of play fortunately for West Ham who did not play to the whistle.

3′ GOAL FOR NEWCASTLE! Longstaff played through Wilson and one-on-one with the keeper he fires the ball home.

32′ GOAL FOR WEST HAM! A fine corner from Declan Rice was not cleared in the six-yard box and Paqueta controlled the ball on his thigh before poking the ball home.

76′ GREAT TACKLE FROM AGUERD! A fine ball from Gordon puts through Wilson but Aguerd brilliantly catches the England striker and tackles him before he gets a shot in.

KEY STAT

572 – The number of minutes since Nick Pope conceded a Premier League goal before this evening.