Newcastle United 3-1 West Ham: Hammers slide towards second tier at St. James’ Park | OneFootball

West Ham continued to slide towards relegation from the Premier League this evening as they suffered a 3-1 defeat to Newcastle United.

The Magpies opened the scoring through Nick Woltemade, who volleyed home from inside the area, before quickly adding a second through William Osula following a nice passing move.Osula was on the scoresheet again in the second-half, netting the third goal for the hosts from close range.

Taty Castellanos provided West Ham a lifeline with a superb volley, but it was too little too late for the visitors, who now need somewhat of a miracle if they are to stay up this season.

As it happened

Newcastle started the better of the two sides, registering the first corner of the game with 10 minutes played; however, it was comfortably caught by Mads Hermansen. Tomás Souček was perhaps lucky not to concede a penalty for handball following the corner.

It wasn’t long before The Magpies took the lead, though, when Woltemade volleyed home from close range after Harvey Barnes capitalised on a poor pass from the West Ham keeper. Just minutes later, Osula doubled the hosts’ lead, firing under Hermansen to round off a brilliant passing move.

The Hammers remained far too open at the back, with a defensive mix-up resulting in another Newcastle corner, which, luckily for them, Hermansen caught again. Nuno Espirito Santo had seen enough after 25 minutes and decided to make a change, with Castellanos replacing Jean-Claire Todibo.

Castellanos almost made an immediate impact when he forced a superb save out of Nick Pope. The visitors continued to apply pressure but without reaping the reward, meaning they headed in at the break with a two-goal deficit to overturn.

The second half started slowly, and Sandro Tonali’s home season was brought to an end when he was forced off with injury and replaced by Joseph Willock. Pope was tested again shortly before the hour mark, when Součk took aim from a distance. The Czech international was perhaps lucky to avoid a red card moments later due to an incident with Bruno Guimaraes; it was just a yellow for Souček in the end.

Nuno turned to his bench once again in the 63rd minute, introducing Pablo and Mohamadou Kanté in favour of Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Souček. However, the three points were effectively assured for Newcastle just moments later, with Osula netting their third goal of the afternoon, sweeping the ball home for his second.

Malick Diouf was shown The Irons’ second yellow card of the match shortly after the goal for a reckless challenge on Osula. Castellanos then provided a lifeline for West Ham in the 69th minute, with a stunning long-range volley that dipped into the far corner.

Jarrod Bowen looked to grab a goal and get his side within one of the hosts, but his shot was saved by Pope. Newcastle then made a double change that saw Woltemade and Barnes replaced by Dan Burn and Jacob Murphy.

Castellanos came close to a second goal moments later, but this time his volley clipped the crossbar. Lewis Hall was shown Newcastle’s first yellow card of the day shortly after. Pope was then forced into a double save to deny Castellanos and keep West Ham at bay.

Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa were then introduced to proceedings, with Kieran Tripper’s final home appearance in Newcastle colours came to an end to a standing ovation from the St.James’ Park crowd. Osula was also withdrawn.

West Ham continued to hunt for a second goal, but they were denied by an imperious Pope in the Newcastle goal, bringing the game to a close with The Hammers in a perilous position…should Tottenham win at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night, then West Ham United will be relegated.