Inside Elland Road: Brenden Aaronson praise
The picture has changed in the lower reaches of the division.
Leeds United’s cushion back to the Premier League dropzone has changed again after a huge boost for key struggling rivals.
Leeds kicked six points clear of the bottom three with last weekend’s 2-1 win at home to second-bottom West Ham United but slipped a point closer to the dropzone through Saturday’s 3-0 loss at Brighton.
As Daniel Farke’s Whites suffered a disappointing reverse on the south coast, third-bottom Nottingham Forest picked up their first point under new boss Sean Dyche in a 2-2 draw at home to Manchester United.
That left Leeds five points clear of the bottom three but with second-bottom West Ham provided with a chance to make ground from Sunday’s hosting of Newcastle United.
The Hammers approached the contest having taken just one point from their last six games but the Irons recorded their first win under new boss Nuno Espirito Santos through a 3-1 success.
West Ham’s current plight was summed up in the opening exchanges as Newcastle took a fourth-minute lead through Jacob Murphy just seconds after a fine Jarrod Bowen strike had thumped back off the post.
The Hammers then thought they had a penalty after Bowen was upended by Malick Thiaw but VAR intervened and the decision was overturned due to Thiaw getting a slight touch on the ball.
West Ham, though, drew level through a superb long range strike from Lucas Paqueta in the 35th minute and a Sven Botman own goal from a dangerous Aaron Wan-Bissaka cross put the Irons ahead in the fifth minute of first half stoppage time.
A disappointing display from Newcastle then continued in the second half and the Hammers bagged a third goal in the 98th minute through Tomas Soucek, following in after Bowen’s strike was saved.
The win has taken West Ham a point above Forest into 18th place and now just four points behind fifth-bottom Leeds who are one point ahead of fourth-bottom Burnley.
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