A 'miffed' David Moyes admitted he was 'pulling' his hair out after West Ham's 1-1 draw against Newcastle United.
While West Ham have not been at their best of late, Moyes' comment was as much a tribute to how well Newcastle performed at the London Stadium on Saturday after the Magpies came from behind to claim a point following Joe Willock's well-taken equaliser.
As well as having more possession, shots and corners, the visitors were solid for the most part aside from one lapse in concentration for Craig Dawson's opener.
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Newcastle, however, did not crumble after that setback and the manner in which Matt Targett shackled the in-form Jarrod Bowen summed up the visitors' disciplined performance.
Bowen did force Martin Dubravka into a crucial save in the 20th minute, after the Newcastle goalkeeper tipped his venomous effort onto the crossbar, but this was one of the former Magpies target's quieter games in a long while.
Bowen, after all, had been on fire going into this match, having been directly involved in eight of West Ham's previous 10 goals, but the forward found little joy against Targett down the right wing.
Targett made three tackles, three blocks and three clearances all told and only Dan Burn, a centre-back, made a bigger contribution defensively.
Crucially, Targett also pushed Bowen the other way.
Howe, like most modern managers, asks a lot of his full-backs and, as well as having to be solid defensively, they are often tasked with playing that first pass to set Newcastle on the attack.
Rather than going sideways, Howe wants his full-backs to play progressively to get his side up the pitch and that was one of the many reasons why the Newcastle head coach wanted to sign Targett last month.
Targett, tellingly, had more touches (79) than any other Newcastle player as he calmly helped to build play and bombed forward forward much to Howe's delight.
"Matty was very good," he told reporters after the game. "I think in the two performances he’s given, he’s been very confident and slipped into the team very impressively.
"He used the ball well. He attacked well. He put a lot of balls in the box but just his general all-round game, his defending, was of the highest level in my opinion."
Steven Gerrard also recognised those qualities but, after signing Lucas Digne from Everton last month, the Villa boss reluctantly sanctioned the loan move as he respected Targett's wish to go out and play.
It is early days, of course, but if Targett maintains these sorts of performances, it is hard to imagine Newcastle not testing Villa's resolve this summer with a permanent offer.
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