David Moyes has applauded his West Ham side for responding “incredibly” after going a goal down after just three minutes against Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon.
The Hammers initially looked to have gone behind in the first minute of their Premier League clash at St James' Park after Joe Willock fired in, but his goal was disallowed after Miguel Almiron’s cross was judged to have crossed the byline.
Straight away, Newcastle were in front - legally this time - after Callum Wilson produced a composed finish when one-on-one with Lukasz Fabianski.
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It looked like it was going to be a long day for the visitors against a side flying high in the Premier League this season with just one defeat in 20 games leading up to the fixture.
But that wasn’t the case. West Ham rallied and were rewarded just after the half-hour mark when Lucas Paqueta slotted the ball in at the back post following a Declan Rice corner.
“[We] responded great,” said Moyes in his post-match press conference with the media. "I felt we played incredibly well. After going a goal behind it would have been easy to buckle and go under with the way the crowd is here and they [Newcastle] are playing.
“But I have to say, you have to give the players huge credit and huge praise for the way they went about it. I thought they played really well in the first-half with maybe the exception of the first minute after we got our fingers burned at the start. After that, I thought we played really well and were worthy to be drawing at half-time.”
Both sides battled hard in the second period, with Newcastle looking the more likely side to snatch a winner as they pushed forward in the latter stages. But West Ham managed to come away from St James’ Park with a precious point after relegation rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers and Everton won earlier in the day.
Paqueta’s goal rescued the point, but Declan Rice received huge plaudits for his performance, with the West Ham captain dominant in midfield throughout the 90 minutes.
“I don’t think I should mention the word on Declan Rice on how well he played, or Lucas Paqueta," added Moyes. "I thought they were both immense, especially in the first half - maybe not the first minute. They were top boys.
“I’m glad for Lucas because we brought him to bring us some goals and the other things is we haven’t scored many goals from set pieces this season, I think that’s probably one of our first goals from a set-piece.”
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