By Louis Nixon
**Lucas Paqueta had a sublime game against Newcastle, scoring an absolute belter from outside of the box, his 5th long-range goal for West Ham, past Nick Pope, and it kicked off what would result in an emphatic win.**
Bar Paqueta’s incredible near post finish from distance, he was absolutely everywhere yesterday afternoon, which helped immensely across both halves. His work rate saw him create chances in the first, help move the ball in the middle of the park and to the attacking areas.
In his attacking positions, he made five passes into the final third, whilst also doing his defensive duties successfully in the second half, winning over half his duels and committing an astonishing zero fouls.
Across the entire game, Paqueta wasn’t dispossessed once which is a bizarre revelation, and it goes to show how much clearer a head he was playing with.
Us fans now have to hope that he can kick on and continue to bring this form into every game this season, and if he does so, there’s no reason to suggest why he couldn’t be our Talisman for the foreseeable future and be the man to fire us up the table.
Fans were on his back after the rumoured transfer away, which he quashed by posting a picture on X, but they certainly weren’t on his back on Sunday and with performances like that, he’ll be receiving applause rather than negativity.
Let’s hope that he can continue this level of form against Burnley and set our eyes on getting six points from two games.