Newcastle United sealed a deserved 3-2 Premier League win away at Manuel Pellegrini’s West Ham United on Saturday.
Newcastle United always planned to rely on set-pieces during their Premier League win away at West Ham on Saturday, having identified the glaring weakness in Manuel Pellegrini’s side, according to the Chronicle.
The Magpies were more than deserving of their shock 3-2 triumph at the London Stadium with Allan Saint-Maximin and Miguel Almiron finally showing their worth in a scintillating counter-attacking display.
But, for all Newcastle’s threat from open play, each of their three goals came from set-pieces in the capital. Ciaran Clark and Federico Fernandez both scored after West Ham failed to deal with balls into the box while a reborn Jonjo Shelvey fired home a brilliant free-kick into the bottom corner in the second half.
West Ham fans were understandably furious about how easily they were beaten on home soil and, to make things even more worrying, Newcastle knew exactly how to get the result they wanted.
According to the Chronicle, Bruce’s assistant coaches Steve Agnew and Stephen Clemence worked on a variety of set-piece routines in the week leading up to the game after identifying West Ham’s increasingly well-publicised Achilles heel.
Bournemouth and Crystal Palace both had plenty of joy from corners against West Ham recently too while Sheffield United snatched an equaliser at the London Stadium after the hosts had failed to clear a cross.
Clearly, Pellegrini has a big problem that needs solving and fast.
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