As Newcastle United stuck the ball beyond Lukasz Fabianski for the second time inside three minutes, it looked as though West Ham were in for a very long evening on Tyneside and an even longer trip back to east London.
Credit must be given to David Moyes' side for the manner in which they fought back after a disastrous start to Saturday's late kick-off. But one man deserves the praise more than most. His name is Declan Rice.
There was not a single blade of grass the West Ham captain failed to cover under the St James' Park lights. Rice gave Newcastle no time to dwell or dawdle on the ball, was extremely positive in possession and generally just looks a step above the rest of his Hammers team-mates.
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Moyes was quizzed on his main man after the 1-1 draw and could not have spoken higher of him, admitting the day he departs the London Stadium will be the day West Ham receive a British record transfer fee for his services.
“I don’t know if I need to say the words, I think you can say the words if you watched it the way I saw it," the Scot said. "I thought he was a top player in the first half, he really was, he showed so many things.
“Undoubtedly Declan is going to be a top player. Undoubtedly he’ll be a British transfer record if he ever leaves West Ham.”
Rice, one of the last West Ham players to leave the pitch at full-time after applauding the travelling fans, gave his match-worn shirt to a group of young Newcastle supporters waiting behind the dugout. Meanwhile on social media he was earning even more admirers of a black and white persuasion.
Rice already has a plethora of teams chasing his signature, waiting for him to eventually jump ship. Newcastle could do so much worse than trying to persuade him to spearhead their anticipated upsetting of the Premier League apple cart on a regular basis.
He looks like a player who would thrive in this environment, under this manager, alongside the likes of Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton. Eddie Howe is already a huge fan of the player.
“For the first five minutes we were electric, the crowd were in the game and then, you know, Declan Rice – other players they have in midfield – they’re good players," the Newcastle boss said at full-time.
“And (as a result of Rice’s dominance), I don’t think we quite stamped our authority in the game like we wanted to. We allowed Declan Rice too much time and you can’t do that, he’s a quality player."
Of course, it would take some doing to put it mildly. Newcastle, still in the infancy of their new regime, do not yet have the financial might to beat the Real Madrid's, Chelsea's and Manchester City's of world football.
St James' Park and the brilliance of Wor Flags is a fantastic advert for potential arrivals but you still feel like Newcastle are a few years off being able to pull off a coup this big. But nowadays, they can certainly dream.
And they can certainly be included in the conversation for players of Rice's ilk. They have fought off the likes of Arsenal and AC Milan recently and the business of the last 13 months has been shrewd and slick. As the Magpies continue to punch above their weight, the more attractive they become to potential arrivals.
January was the quietest transfer window since Mike Ashley said his goodbyes in the north east. The expectation is that the summer will be a lot busier as Howe overhauls his squad amid the possibility of European nights alongside the usual domestic challenges.
James Maddison remains the most popular, and likely, outcome next time the transfer window opens for business. It would be a huge statement if Newcastle tried to manoeuvre themselves into a position for Rice's signature.
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