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.
