Daily WHUFC News - 24th December 2017

Hammers edged out by Newcastle at London Stadium
WHUFC.com

West Ham United 2 - 3 Newcastle United
Premier League

West Ham United saw a lead slip away as Newcastle United took all three
points from London Stadium on Saturday. Marko Arnautovic opened the scoring
early on as the home side made the perfect start, but Newcastle soon struck
back through Henri Saivet before moving in front after the interval thanks
to close range goals from Mo Diame and Christian Atsu. Between those strikes
Andre Ayew had a penalty saved by Rob Elliot, and although Ayew later gave
the Hammers hope with a close range finish, there was no third goal for the
hosts as Newcastle held out for victory. The afternoon started so well for
the hosts as they hit the front with just six minutes on the clock. Saivet
wore a guilty look on his face as he passed the ball straight to Arnautovic,
who accepted the gift clinically, running at Ciaran Clark before slotting
past Elliot, However, the joy only lasted four minutes as Saivet atoned for
his error at the first possible opportunity, arcing a free-kick into the
bottom left hand corner of Adrian's net after Winson Reid was penalised for
a high foot. With 17 minutes on the clock the Magpies so nearly added a
second as DeAndre Yedlin was released by Matt Ritchie down the right. He cut
back to Dwight Gayle and the Newcastle striker slammed an effort against the
bar. Arthur Masuaku forced Elliot into a save from range, but Newcastle were
looking threatening down the right hand side through Yedlin and Ritchie's
link-up, and it was the latter who curled a beautiful left-footed effort
against the upright on 34 minutes. The game had an open feel to it and there
was still time for the sides to exchange chances before the break, Michail
Antonio glancing a header wide when well placed, and Gayle wasting a
similarly promising opening following another Yedlin-Ritchie combination.

Another goal was coming, and it fell Newcastle's way eight minutes after the
restart through former Hammer Diame, who finished assuredly after Astu
knocked the ball through Pablo Zabaleta's legs and crossed low. Three
minutes later the Hammers were handed the opportunity to hit back from the
spot when Clark felled Antonio as he burst into the box, but Ayew could not
convert, seeing Elliot dive to the right to turn his penalty aside. The
breathless nature of the contest continued and Newcastle soon found
themselves 3-1 up. West Ham were the architects of their own downfall as
Zabaleta and Masuaku failed to deal with a Newcastle clearance from Aaron
Cresswell's corner, allowing Joselu the space on the left to square for Atsu
to knock home. Attack looked to be the best form of defence and the Hammers
were back in the contest 21 minutes from the end, Ayew finishing high into
the net after Elliot blocked Andy Carroll's header on the line.
Chicharito came on from the bench as the Hammers searched for a leveller,
and Pedro Obiang fizzed a long-range effort over the bar, but the visitors
stood firm to send the Hammers to a frustrating defeat.

West Ham United: Adrian, Zabaleta, Reid (c), Ogbonna, Cresswell, Masuaku,
Kouyate, Obiang, Ayew (Chicharito 79), Arnautovic, Antonio (Carroll 59)
Substitutes: Hart, Collins, Rice, Quina, Sakho
Goals: Arnautovic 6, Ayew 69
Booked: Kouyate

Newcastle United: Elliot, Clark, Lascelles (c), Gayle (Perez 76), Diame,
Ritchie, Manquillo, Joselu, Yedlin, Saivet (Mbemba 83), Atsu (Murphy 90+1)
Substitutes: Darlow, Dummett, Aarons, Haidara
Goals: Saivet 10, Diame 53, Atsu 61
Booked: Atsu

Referee: Lee Mason
Attendance: 56,955

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Hammers 'did enough to win' against Newcastle - Masuaku
WHUFC.com

Arthur Masuaku believes he and his West Ham United teammates did enough to
beat Newcastle, despite falling to a 3-2 defeat to the Magpies. An early
finish from Marko Arnautovic had put the Hammers in control but a free-kick
from Henri Saivet levelled the match after ten minutes, before Newcastle
went 3-1 ahead through Mohamed Diame and Christian Atsu. The Irons pulled a
goal back thanks to Andre Ayew, who also saw a penalty saved, but couldn't
do enough to grab another finish and take something from an entertaining
encounter at London Stadium. Masukau was once again one of West Ham's
stand-out performers and the pacey left-back feel the Hammers did not
deserve to lose the match. "We're disappointed because this was a massive
day and we could have taken all three points today," Masuaku said: "I think,
in my opinion, we did enough to win. We now have to go and try and win the
next game, on Tuesday, against Bournemouth. "It's a shame because we scored
early in the game, which is good. We couldn't keep playing the way we did at
the beginning though, which was a shame. We have to change that."

The loss to Newcastle spells an end to a decent run of form in the league
for David Moyes's team, having collected seven points from nine available in
the last three matches. Results elsewhere mean that West Ham will spend
Christmas Day outside the relegation zone but Masuaku has acknowledged that
the side's confidence could take a hit because of the defeat. However, the
23-year-old believes he and his teammates can recover quickly and right the
wrongs when the Irons take on Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Boxing
Day, in less than 72 hours. "We're all confident but to lose this kind of
game, the confidence will go down. We just need to be positive as a group
and hopefully things will change."

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Moyes: We paid for our errors in Newcastle defeat
WHUFC.com

David Moyes said West Ham United paid the price for a succession of errors
as Newcastle United scored a surprise 3-2 victory at London Stadium. The
Hammers began the day full of festive cheer, but their Christmas was ruined
as the Magpies came from a goal down to secure their first win in ten
Premier League matches.
Marko Arnautovic gave West Ham the perfect start, only for the visitors to
equalise within four minutes through Henri Saivet's free-kick. Dwight Gayle
and Matt Ritchie then hit the woodwork before Mohamed Diame and Christian
Atsu fired Newcastle two goals clear with half-an-hour to play. Andre Ayew
then missed a penalty before slamming a loose ball high into the net to set
up a dramatic finish, but Moyes' side could not fashion a late leveller.
"It was just a game full of errors. It was an error from them for the first
goal, but certainly from us it was error after error all game and we just
couldn't pull it together," said the manager. "We kept at it, huffing and
puffing, but never really produced anything of any note in the whole game.
"Individually, we have to take responsibility for some of the things we've
done. We'll look at things and see what we could have done better as a team,
but we just really messed up for the third goal, we missed a penalty on the
day and just didn't do the jobs well enough. "For their first goal, we gave
away two free-kicks in the lead up to it, we didn't pass it well enough out
from the back or use it well enough and it was just one of those days when
we made error after error and it ended up with them scoring goals."

While his team undoubtedly gave everything, Moyes admitted his players had
ultimately not played well enough at either end of the pitch to deserve a
share of the spoils. Even when they were handed a golden opportunity to
level from the penalty spot when 2-1 down, Ayew's effort was saved by
Newcastle goalkeeper Rob Elliot. "Probably, we hadn't deserved to get back
into the game because in the first half they had two good chances where they
hit the post and the bar, but we needed to get back into it. "The crowd had
been good to us and stayed behind us and if we'd got the penalty I think it
would have changed things. "We've already missed two penalty kicks since
I've been here and, when you're in the position we're in, you've just can't
afford to do that and you've got to take your chances."

Moyes said his players have to get Saturday's performance out of their
systems quickly and they now have two important training sessions to prepare
for the Boxing Day trip to AFC Bournemouth. "We've shown good improvement at
times. Saturday was always going to be different because we had to show what
we could do and I don't think we did that. "We stuck at it and tried to get
back in it, but ultimately we didn't do enough, especially when we were in
front, which was the biggest disappointment. "Whatever the result is at this
time of year, though, you just have to roll on to the next game."

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David Moyes rues West Ham's 'terrible' and 'farcical' errors in defeat to
Newcastle
By Michael Hincks
Last Updated: 23/12/17 6:39pm
SSN

David Moyes was left bitterly disappointed with the manner of the goals West
Ham conceded in the 3-2 defeat to Newcastle at the London Stadium. West Ham
had taken the lead through Marko Arnautovic, but fell behind after goals
from Henri Saivet and Mo Diame. Andre Ayew then missed the chance to level
from the penalty spot, with Rob Elliot saving his spot-kick before Christian
Atsu slid home Newcastle's third. And though Ayew made amends with 20
minutes to go, the comeback stopped there as Newcastle held on for a first
win in 10 Premier League games. Asked to summarise West Ham's performance,
Moyes responded: "Not a good one that's for sure. It was a game full of
errors, I just keep looking at the goals we've conceded and the mistakes
we've made. "It was near enough right from the start. We got the goal - I
think from a Newcastle mistake - but after we made two or three terrible
mistakes which led to them scoring from a free-kick.
"All in all, it just seemed like that on the touchline. Mistake after
mistake. We then missed a penalty at 2-1 which makes it even more
difficult." West Ham changed tactics when introducing Andy Carroll in the
second half, and though it was his header which Ayew smashed in the rebound
from, the forward not find a leveller for the hosts. Moyes said Carroll's
danger in the air is well-known, but could not help move back to commenting
on Newcastle's third goal, which came from a swift counter after a West Ham
corner. "Everyone knows how good Andy is. But we gave ourselves too much to
do after conceding a farcical third goal," Moyes added.
"We have to try and get rid of the individual errors. We missed him at home.
He's the one player who can do more on the ball and it was glaringly obvious
we missed him here. "It was going to be a test with expectations changing
towards us winning, but it showed today that we could not do that. "It was
the manner of losing the goals. The third was a catastrophe, the way it came
about. We don't score the penalty, and those things can make a big
difference."

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