In a topsy turvy game at The London Stadium, Newcastle came from behind to beat West Ham 2-3. Which players did best? Who struggled?
Best: Marko Arnautovic
The Austrian was sublime again for West Ham. Him emerging as the leading light of a David Moyes team is baffling, but when he picked up on a poor backpass on halfway, Arnautovic showed himself worthy of all praise.
West Ham’s big man drove hard and fast towards goal, leaving Ciaran Clark wondering where his feet where before popping the ball beyond Pickford from the top of the box. It was a supreme goal, just a shame he wasn’t provided for better.
Worst: Adrian
Adrian has been supreme for West Ham lately whilst Joe Hart has been a disaster. But going off this display it would seem that some of the Englishman has rubbed off on the Spaniard.
West Ham were 1-0 up at home early on and looking to stabilise themselves when they gave away a free-kick. Still, Henri Saivet sent in a low weak effort, no problem right? Wrong. Adrian dove at the thing is slow-motion, it went in, and suddenly West Ham had lost the lead and would never regain it.
Best: Henri Saivet
It takes a lot to rebound from an error. And Henri Saivet put Newcastle behind the 8-ball early on with a terrible back-pass that Marko Arnautovic took all the way to the house.
But the Frenchman didn’t let that get him down, he refused to be cowed, and when Newcastle got a free-kick 25 yards out Saivet confidently stepped up. He smacked the ball perfectly over the wall and although Adrian should have saved it because of the lack of pace, Saivet positioned the ball perfectly. 1-1 and Newcastle were back in business!
Worst: Andre Ayew
Andre Ayew is usually a player for the big moments but, with West Ham 1-2 down he got a penalty and took it terribly. It was softly hit at an easy height and Rob Eliot made a simple save.
The miss was a dagger in the heart of West Ham’s momentum, and Newcastle made it 1-3 five minutes later. Ayew scored a consolation effort just short of 70 minutes, but by then Newcastle were in the groove and the match was over.
Best: Christian Atsu
Playing on the left, Atsu torched his full-back with astounding regularity and was the principle protagonist as Newcastle powered ahead of West Ham in the second period.
First it was his wonderful run out wide, nutmegging his man and providing a delightful cross straight into the path of Mohamed Diamé that punched Newcastle into the lead. Then he followed that up with a superb run into the heart of the West Ham defence and slapped him a third goal that turned out to b a game-winner. Quite an afternoon!
Worst: Pablo Zabaleta
Zabaleta was past-it when he joined West Ham, and although he’s had a couple of decent games under David Moyes, that was never going to last. Today all that goodness was undone with some absolutely terrible defending.
First, he gave away the free-kick that Newcastle equalised from. Second he further damned West Ham by getting rinsed by Christian Atsu out wide on the second goal. Finally he rushed up and made a terrible clearance that left Newcastle free to rampage into West Ham’s half and score a third.
An absolutely shocking performance.
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