West Ham United relinquished a two-goal lead with 13 minutes to play to fall to a disappointing, damaging 4-3 Premier League defeat at Newcastle United on Saturday.
Michail Antonio, Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen – with his 15th Premier League goal of the season – looked to have put the Hammers on course for a valuable victory, only for a late collapse to put a big dent in the Londoners’ hopes of securing European qualification.
Alexander Isak, with two penalties either side of West Ham’s treble, and then substitute Harvey Barnes, stunned David Moyes and his side, who were simply unable to handle the Magpies’ late surge.
West Ham had headed to one of world football’s cathedrals, St James’ Park – named after one of Jesus’s 12 disciples – for their Holy Saturday fixture seeking to extend their unbeaten run to five Premier League matches, but those hopes were ended in stunning fashion.
Newcastle’s historic home had not been the happiest of hunting grounds for the Hammers, who had won here just five times in 25 previous Premier League visits, and eleven in 71 in total dating back 113 years – and that trend continued as West Ham surrendered what should have been a winning position.
It took just 130 seconds for Vladimír Coufal to foul Anthony Gordon inside the West Ham penalty area. After a three-minute VAR check for a potential offside deemed a challenge by Dinos Mavropanos started a new phase of play and therefore Gordon was not offside, referee Rob Jones confirmed his decision and Alexander Isak sent Alphonse Areola the wrong way from the spot.
Isak and Antonio then each flashed a shot over the crossbar before West Ham’s No9 equalised, climaxing a superb build-up by running onto Paquetá’s through ball and finishing confidently past Martin Dúbravka.
That goal reduced noise levels within St James’ Park, but they rose again nine minutes before half-time when Gordon headed narrowly wide, then moments later when his shot was deflected wide by Coufal. Either side, shots from Jarrod Bowen, Sean Longstaff were held by Dúbravka and Areola respectively as the teams continued to trade chances.