Premier League Full Time Report: Newcastle United vs. West Ham United
Newcastle took on West Ham in a game that they were forced to play without their top striker, Andy Carroll. This was because the player had not yet recovered from an injury he picked up recently. As a result experts predicted that Newcastle would not be able
to fire up on all their cylinders during the game.
The line ups for the game were as follows:
NEWCASTLE: Harper, Simpson, Steven Taylor, Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Barton, Nolan, Tiote, Gutierrez, Lovenkrands, Best.
Subs: Krul, Williamson, Guthrie, Routledge, Perch, Ranger, Ferguson.
WEST HAM: Green, Ben-Haim, Tomkins, Upson, Gabbidon, Sears, Parker, Kovac, Noble, Piquionne, Cole.
Subs: Boffin, Reid, Barrera, Spector, Behrami, Hines, Obinna. Ref: Mike Dean.
The match kicked off with both team's looking to go at it early. Both Newcastle and West Ham created a number of opportunities in the opening fifteen minutes of play. However on the 18th minute, Leon Best who was brought in to play as a stand-in
striker, managed to break the deadlock. After some poor defending by West Ham, the ball fell at Lovenkrands’ feet at the edge of the box, the player then went on to loft the ball through for Best, who finished with precision via his left foot.
After the opening goal, the match became a whole lot quieter. That was of course only until the 39th minute, when Best found the back of the net once again. Joey Barton whipped in a deadly free-kick that found Lovenkrands, the player then went
on to rip the ball past the goal and Best managed to get into the box just in time to turn the ball over from close range.
Just when it looked like the first half would come to an end and West Ham would get a chance to regroup, Newcastle scored a third. This time around it was Nolan who got on the score sheet for the home side. A poor clearance from the West Ham defender Tomkins,
fell right into the path of Nolan. The attacker then went on to turn the ball in from close range on the 44th minute and give the home side a three goals to nil lead.
The second half picked up exactly where the fist half ended. Newcastle were running riot once again and on the 58th minute they had their fourth goal. This time around it was Best once again, who received a pass from Nolan and then went on to
push the ball to his left foot, before finishing with a superbly taken shot.
Just when it looked like things couldn't get any worse for the visitors, Newcastle managed to score a fifth goal. Barton managed to create space for himself down the flank and then curled the ball into the area. Lovenkrands was the quickest player to react,
as he went on to get ahead of Upson and finish from close range in style.
With Newcastle having ripped West Ham to shreds, the team fell to the bottom of the league table once again, while Newcastle jumped to the eighth spot.
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