Declan Rice believes West Ham United were back to their top seven best after claiming a 1-1 draw at Newcastle United.
The Hammers went behind after just three minutes when Callum Wilson netted the opener for the Magpies, shortly after Joe Willock had a goal disallowed by VAR in the first minute.
But David Moyes’ side responded superbly and their efforts were rightly rewarded just after the half hour mark when Lucas Paqueta put away the equaliser from a Rice corner.
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After top seven finishes in the Premier League over the past two seasons, the Irons have had a disappointing campaign so far, facing a relegation scrap rather than a fight for a place in Europe next term. Rice says to claim a point against a Newcastle side that have lost just once in the Premier League this season was a massive result and one that the Hammers should look to build on.
“It’s massive,” Rice told Sky Sports. “As a group of lads, the manager, we know how important these games are and we need to be picking up points in every game we play. Today was kind of a bit vintage West Ham, the way we played the last two seasons.
“We really dug in. Run our socks off. Had a fair amount of chances. You’re not always going to dominate the ball, not with the way Newcastle have played this season. I thought we did really well with it, tried to slow down the game as much as we could. It’s a really good point at a tough place to come.”
Despite a credible point, and leapfrogging Leeds United in the table, the Hammers remained 16th after Wolverhampton Wanderers earned a 3-0 win against Liverpool earlier in the day. Relegation rivals Everton also picked up an incredible victory of their own, beating table-topping Arsenal in the lunchtime fixture.
West Ham remain just one point above the relegation zone but after the Newcastle display questions will be asked as to where those performances were earlier in the campaign.
Rice added: “Obviously that question is always going to come. At the end of the day, it’s football really. Anything can happen in a game of football.
“You need to know that when you step out on that pitch you need to give 110% and I think you’ve seen a team today that are together and really want to push on now and confirm our status in the Premier League obviously because we’re down the bottom of the league at the minute.”
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