West Ham bounced back from a goal down to beat Newcastle 3-1, securing their first home win since February.
Newcastle’s home fans looked set for another long afternoon when Jacob Murphy opened the scoring from outside the box 26 seconds after Jarrod Bowen hit the opposition goalpost in the fourth minute, but Nuno Espirito Santo’s side hit back.
Lucas Paqueta leveled the score with a long-range shot that beat Nick Pope at the near post, and the comeback was completed in first-half injury time when Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s low cross was misdirected into Sven Botman’s own goal.
Substitute Tomas Soucek added a third goal in the final minute, firing home from close range after Bowen’s diagonal shot skimmed the legs of Pope.
The win was West Ham’s second of the season and their first under Nuno. Since winning 2-0 against Leicester on February 27, they have gone nine home games without a win.
Newcastle slumped significantly after taking an early lead, and despite Eddie Howe making three substitutes, the second half was flat, with only one shot on target.
Earlier, Pope had to brace himself to prevent Paqueta’s free-kick and Max Kilman’s header, but the Newcastle goalkeeper should have done better with the equalizer. West Ham’s deserved victory lifted the mood throughout the club.
The result puts them ahead of Nottingham Forest in 18th place and three points from safety. Newcastle remain in 13th place and the defeat leaves them without a win in eight Premier League away games.
Although some West Ham fans remained behind and staged a pre-planned sit-in protest against the club’s owners, there was an overall positive mood as they celebrated their long-awaited victory at the London Stadium.
Featured: All goals
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Jacob Murphy puts Newcastle ahead within four minutes
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Lucas Paqueta’s long range stunner tied the score.
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Sven Botman’s own goal gives West Ham a comeback.
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Tomas Soucek added the third goal from close range.
Nuno thanks fans for their support
West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo said: “I’m very happy. People should be proud of the way we played.”
“We got off to a good start, they scored, but the players reacted well.
“For me, it was the moment of the game and the immediate reaction when I was in an unfavorable situation.
“It makes my weekdays easier, my legs heal faster, and I see a smile on my face. It makes my job so much easier and it makes it so much easier to keep improving. It’s a small step, but it’s so important.”
“We are delighted to be back at the London Stadium next week and it means a lot to us.
“Our idea is to try to give something to our fans, and today we gave them a small thing, but the way they gave back to us was huge.
“In the end, the noise at the London Stadium was incredible. I can’t thank the fans enough. We will try to make the London Stadium a very difficult stadium for our opponents.”
Howe: We didn’t recognize it.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe told a press conference: “There was no dynamism today. Our performance lacked physicality and energy.
“What’s hard to take away from that is that we rotated the squad a lot in midweek to keep the players fresh, and that doesn’t seem to have happened.
“It was a poor performance. We try to be open and honest with our play, but we weren’t ourselves.
“This was our worst performance in an away game where we didn’t win. It’s certainly an important period of reflection for us.
“I was disappointed in the first half, and as the second half got longer, I became more disappointed.
“There were certain aspects of our performance that were unrecognizable. It didn’t look like the Newcastle team we’ve seen in the last few seasons. The body language, the cohesive spirit on the pitch, a lot of the little things that contribute to our performance weren’t there.”
“I don’t think it was tactical or technical. I just wasn’t in the necessary mental state.”
Analysis: Potts leaves a big impression.
Lewis Jones on Sky Sports at the London Stadium:
The only thing missing from Freddie Potts, making his first Premier League start for West Ham, was a goal.
And Tomas Soucek came close after his close-range finish was ruled out for harsh offside by VAR.
Apart from that, it was a perfect full debut for the West Ham academy product, who is the son of former West Ham defender Steve Potts. He is 22 years old so he has had to be patient until he gets his chance, but he impressed on loan at Portsmouth last season and based on his performances, he could well adapt to the demands of the Premier League.
He was smart in possession, but most importantly, he screened the backline with great authority and competed with great authority in duels. This is something this West Ham team has lacked all season.
The Hammers now have a “unique player” to root for. He made a huge difference.
Analysis: Newcastle’s worrying display
Sky Sports’ Nick Wright said this at the London Stadium.
Eddie Howe’s half-time substitution told the story. His three substitutions were aimed at reinvigorating the team after a poor first half, but there was little improvement. In fact, they were probably even worse, failing to get a shot on target in the second half until the 90th minute.
The lack of intensity and attacking threat felt very un-Newcastle-like, and Howe later admitted he felt the same way. “Unrecognizable” was his verdict. And that’s despite rotating the squad ahead of the Carabao Cup game against Tottenham in midweek.
The idea was to keep the players fresh, but they looked outside of the London Stadium, where many teams have profited in recent months. Newcastle were never going to do that. Even when leading, West Ham looked hungrier and more dangerous. they got what they deserved. So was Newcastle.
West Ham’s late fightback – Opta stats
West Ham won their first Premier League match since winning 3-1 against Luton Town in their final home game of the 2023-24 season, ending a run of 32 league games without a comeback and picking up three points. West Ham recorded their first Premier League home win since February against Leicester, ending a nine-match winless run at the London Stadium. To date, Newport County, bottom of the Football League, are the only team in England’s top four tier to remain without a win at their home stadium for an extended period of time. Newcastle have gone winless in eight Premier League away games for the first time since the start of the 2021/22 season with nine consecutive games, with manager Eddie Howe managing only the last three of that run.
