West Ham picked up a big three points on Sunday afternoon.placeholder image
West Ham picked up a big three points on Sunday afternoon. | Getty Images
Nuno Espirito Santo picked up his first win as West Ham boss with victory over Newcastle United on Sunday.
West Ham picked up a big three points with a 3-1 win over Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon, recording only a second victory of the Premier League season.
The Hammers move up to 18th in the top flight, three points from safety with some pressure taken off of the shoulders of Nuno Espirito Santo. The win over the Magpies comes after disappointing performances against Brentford and Leeds United following last month’s international break.
West Ham welcome Burnley to the London Stadium next weekend and could leapfrog the Clarets and move out of the drop zone in six days time.
Alan Shearer slams Newcastle United after West Ham defeat
Newcastle United went into the match as favourites given the hosts’ recent form and looked to be on their way to victory after Jacob Murphy put them ahead within four minutes. West Ham pulled one back through a brilliant Lucas Paqueta strike after 35 minutes before a Sven Botman own goal put Nuno’s side 2-1 up on the stroke of half time.
Tomas Soucek then bundled in a third in the 98th minute to confirm the result. Nuno will look to revel in the positives of a win but Newcastle United were criticised for a poor performance in the capital.
Taking to social media platform X after full time, Premier League and Magpies legend Alan Shearer wrote: “That was awful. No better 2nd half. Not one positive. Lazy. Leggy. Lethargic. Well done West Ham.”
Nuno and Howe react
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe took a similar approach. He said: “Really disappointed. I can’t really defend the performance. It was really disappointing, especially after that start. We thought we could grab the game and control it but we didn’t, we let West Ham back in with some uncharacteristic errors.
“It wasn’t any one or two players, it was collectively we were off today. We gave ourselves problems, getting caught on the ball and they were counter attacking. The goals towards the end of the first half typified that performance.”
Meanwhile, Nuno praised his team’s efforts following the first win at home this season. He said: “It feels really good, we are happy and proud of how we played the game.
“The boys did amazing. The reaction of the team was what we expected. I think we had a lot of moments against us and today we knew how to react to it. We played the game to the end, it was nice.”
When asked whether he felt an improved intensity from his side, Nuno said: “We are improving in that aspect. Football is not played only with the ball, off the ball is what concerns me the most and we’ve made a good step in what is the way we want to approach.”
In other news, West Ham players get 'dressing down' in training ahead of Newcastle United.
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