West Ham 1-0 Newcastle: Match Report

29 November 2014 05:01
West Ham 1-0 Newcastle: Match Report - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game as it happened.


Hammers halt Magpies run

West Ham ended Newcastle's winning streak with a 1-0 victory at Upton Park where the visitors had midfielder Moussa Sissoko sent off late on.

The Irons, who had not won since beating Manchester City before the international break, edged a match of few chances with a neat finish from defender Aaron Cresswell, his first goal for the club, after 56 minutes.

Newcastle, who had surged into the top five following six successive Barclays Premier League wins, never really got going, and any hope of a comeback went with 15 minutes left when Sissoko received two careless yellow cards in quick succession.

Both sides took a while to grow into the match, which offered little of note during the opening exchanges.

After eight minutes, Stewart Downing, fit again after a knee problem, sent in a low shot from 20 yards which was comfortably gathered by Rob Elliot, who replaced injured Tim Krul in the Newcastle goal.

Newcastle threatened on the break when Sissoko fed Ayoze Perez down the left and the Spaniard went on to the edge of the penalty area, but James Tomkins got back to clear.

There was a brief stoppage when the same defender - criticised for apparent play-acting in an altercation with Everton's Kevin Mirallas last weekend - went down after being caught in the face by the outstretched boot of Andy Carroll as the forward blocked a cross from the right.

After 37 minutes, a flick at the near post from Perez after a cross from the left went into the side-netting.

The West Ham supporters in the Sir Trevor Brooking Stand were screaming for a penalty as former Newcastle man Carroll crashed the ball at Mike Williamson, which looked to hit him on the underside of the upper arm, but referee Mike Dean was not interested.

At the start of the second half there was more urgency about the hosts, who had drawn their last home match 0-0 against Aston Villa, with Downing charging down the left before curling a 20-yard effort over.

There was a let-off for Newcastle when a deep free-kick from James Collins caused panic in the penalty box, with Elliot completely missing his attempted punch clear, and the ball bounced wide for a corner.

West Ham were ahead after 56 minutes.

Downing fed Cheikhou Kouyate at the edge of the box. His scuffed shot fell straight into the path of advancing full-back Cresswell, who guided the ball into the bottom corner for his first goal since moving from Ipswich.

Newcastle, who had kept four clean sheets going into the match, made a double change on the hour when Papiss Cisse and Remy Cabella replaced Yoan Gouffran and Cheick Tiote.

The visitors, though, continued to lack a cutting edge in the final third as West Ham were dangerous on the counter-attack.

Newcastle had to play the final 15 minutes with 10 men after Sissoko was ordered off.

First the France midfielder kicked the ball away after a foul against him in the West Ham penalty area, and then bundled into Carroll as the referee reached for his pocket once again.

In the closing stages, Elliot pushed a curling shot from substitute Mauro Zarate around the post and Downing dragged an effort wide after a surging run down the left.


Source: PA