Newcastle put West Ham on the brink of Premier League relegation with a 3-1 win at St James’ Park.
The hosts made a fast and aggressive start, pinning West Ham back with slick passing and constant pressure in wide areas.
Harvey Barnes was central to Newcastle’s attacking threat and helped create the opener after 15 minutes, winning possession before bursting down the right flank and picking out Nick Woltemade inside the box.
The German midfielder stepped away from his marker and calmly side-footed home from close range for his first goal since Christmas.
Just four minutes later, Newcastle doubled their advantage with an excellent flowing move that cut straight through the West Ham defence.
A series of one-touch passes ended with Jacob Ramsey slipping William Osula into the area, and the striker finished through Mads Hermansen’s legs to make it 2-0.
West Ham looked rattled by the quickfire goals and reacted with an early tactical reshuffle, sacrificing Jean-Clair Todibo for striker Valentin Castellanos midway through the first half.
The substitution improved the visitors immediately, with Castellanos injecting energy into the attack and forcing Nick Pope into a superb double save alongside Malick Diouf shortly before the half-hour mark.
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Magpies power on
Despite that improvement, Newcastle remained dangerous throughout the second half. Lewis Hall and Bruno Guimaraes both went close shortly after the restart, while Osula continued to trouble West Ham’s back line with his movement and physical presence.
The game was effectively finished in the 65th minute when Osula grabbed his second goal of the afternoon. Joe Willock capitalised on sloppy defending before racing into space down the right and squaring for the unmarked striker, who slotted home comfortably from inside the area to put Newcastle 3-0 ahead.
Castellanos grabs consolation
West Ham did manage a spectacular consolation goal four minutes later. Hermansen launched a long ball forward that bounced into Newcastle territory, and Castellanos produced an outstanding first-time half-volley from around 25 yards that flew over Pope and into the net. The strike drew applause even from sections of the home support.
The visitors pushed for another goal late on, with Castellanos striking the woodwork with a brilliant improvised volley and Pope making further saves to deny both the Argentine and Callum Wilson.
However, Newcastle comfortably saw out the closing stages to secure the win.
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