This was the night when West Ham’s complacency caught up with them. A rampant Newcastle deserved this handsome victory at a mutinous London Stadium, if only because they succeeded in getting the basics right. Eddie Howe’s impressive side did not even have to work hard for their goals and, as the match drew to a close, it was hard to know what more West Ham need to see before accepting that David Moyes’s time is up.
Out of the bottom three on goal difference, West Ham have ignored the obvious for too long and are paying for their failure to act. This was a humiliation for Moyes. The Scot watched helplessly as his side were given a lesson in focus by opponents cantering towards the Champions League after their fourth consecutive win.
He listened grimly as the last few home fans left in the stadium applauded when Newcastle’s crowing supporters taunted Moyes with chants of “You’re getting sacked in the morning”. The travelling Toon Army had a point and the atmosphere turned toxic. Moyes was booed off after a rotten defensive display from West Ham and the onus is on the co-owner, David Sullivan, to act. There can be no excuses.
Everything was too easy for Newcastle as they exposed Moyes’s dreadful full-backs, Thilo Kehrer and Emerson Palmieri, and accepted the gifts from West Ham’s centre-backs, Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd, whose shocking performance was summed up by the moment when he killed off any chance of a comeback by handing Callum Wilson his second goal of the evening 22 seconds into the second half.
It was Wilson who had got the ball rolling in the sixth minute, punishing slack marking after Saïd Benrahma neglected his defensive duties and gave Allan Saint-Maximin too much time to cross. There was a vast difference in application between the sides. Newcastle were jaded after their win over Manchester United and Howe was not happy with their level during a pulsating first half, but their resilience meant they tightened their grip on third place.
“I don’t think we were perfect,” Howe said. “West Ham made it a good game. But we took our chances. When you reflect back to Sunday, the emotion that took out of us, we looked a little fatigued. We were great in elements of our game. Mentally we got through it and got a massive result. Every positive result strengthens our position. Nothing is going to be decided short term.”
The same applies at the opposite end of the table. West Ham had glimpsed a chance to climb, but they cannot relax after their first home defeat since December. Their away form is dreadful and they still have to host Arsenal, United and Liverpool. They could do with a result at Fulham on Saturday.
At least the early signs had been encouraging for West Ham. They were direct when they attacked and could have led when Jarrod Bowen tore down the right inside the first minute, held off Dan Burn and produced a cutback so inviting it almost made Bruno Guimarães turn the ball into his own net.
Guimarães was relieved to see the ball bounce off a post, then for Declan Rice to hammer a shot over. West Ham’s wounds were self-inflicted. There were groans when Kehrer misjudged a long ball and conceded a needless corner in the sixth minute. West Ham’s concentration faded. The corner was cleared as far as Saint-Maximin, who danced past Benrahma’s feeble challenge and crossed for Wilson to head past Lukasz Fabianski.
Zouma and Aguerd had lost Wilson, who replaced Alexander Isak up front, and Newcastle capitalised on the confusion. Seven minutes later Fabian Schär stepped out of from the back and played a ball straight through the middle. Played onside by Emerson, Joelinton rounded Fabianski and made it 2-0.
Still, though, Newcastle were not entirely secure at the back. West Ham responded, Michail Antonio and Lucas Paqueta both going close. Fabianski stopped Wilson and West Ham took note of Nick Pope receiving treatment. Antonio stopped Newcastle’s goalkeeper coming for Bowen’s corner in the 39th minute and Zouma’s header dragged West Ham back into it.
West Ham were energised by the goal, albeit a little fortunate not to lose Emerson for a foul on Jacob Murphy. They were still too erratic. West Ham were not equipped to deal with Newcastle’s aggression. The third goal summed it up. Aguerd received a pass from Fabianski, dithered and lost possession to Murphy, who presented Wilson with an open goal. Out of the window went Moyes’s half-time instructions. Newcastle looked for more, Murphy and Saint-Maximin testing Fabianski. West Ham’s shape was gone. Fabianski miscontrolled Guimarães’s ball and Isak lobbed in the fourth. The home sections emptied out. Those who stayed could at least appreciate Joelinton’s fine finish for Newcastle’s fifth in added time.
