Premier League: West Ham v Newcastle full time report
West Ham 1 Newcastle 2
Andy Carroll’s second half header pushed Newcastle up to ninth, and kept a woeful West Ham rock bottom of the table at an angry Upton Park.
The Hammers were booed off after forward Carroll stooped to head home Joey Barton’s excellent cross midway through the second half.
Earlier, West Ham had taken the lead through Carlton Cole’s close range finish following a Frederic Piquionne cross, before Carroll knocked the ball down to skipper Kevin Nolan to fire home an equaliser.
The hosts struggled to create any worthwhile chances in the second period, and Carroll could have made things worse late on, only to fire wide.
This result increases the pressure on Hammers boss Avram Grant, but it would be the nature of his team’s performance that would most concern the Israeli.
The Hammers were searching for a win to take them off the bottom of the table and out of the relegation zone – dumping their opponents there in the process – and started much the better of the two sides, with Cole and Piquionne causing problems upfront – with one problem in particular providing the opener.
Twelve minutes had been played when Mark Noble dropped a terrific ball over the top of the Newcastle defence towards Piquionne, who had timed his run perfectly. The Frenchman then pulled the ball across goal for the lurking Cole, who was on hand to turn home his first of the season from a couple of yards out.
The goal spurred the lacklustre Geordies into life, and after a couple of dangerous crosses into the box, they were soon level from another delivery from out wide, and thanks to their flatmates.
Barton swung the ball in, and after Carroll nodded it back, skipper Nolan was on hand to sweep home an effort into the far corner with his left foot. Carroll has been ordered to live with Nolan this week as a condition of his bail following an arrest.
Back up the other end, West Ham reacted, and Victor Obinna should have done better when Piquionne set him up after goalkeeper Tim Krul had gone walkabout, but the Nigerian winger – an Upton Park favourite – was proving tough for Newcastle to handle, and one low cross of his just evaded Cole.
Newcastle started the second half on top, and Carroll saw a lot effort well saved by stretching Robert Green, before the visitors were given even further cause for optimism when Hammers defender Matthew Upson limped off. He was replaced by full back Herita Ilunga, with Danny Gabbidon switching to the centre of defence.
The low on confidence Hammers were really struggling now, even more so after Piquionne limped off to be replaced by Benni McCarthy, and it wasn’t long before the visitors were ahead.
Eyebrows had been raised over Chris Hughton’s decision to use Barton on the right hand side of midfield, but – just as he did with the first goal – he soon showed just why with an excellent cross from the right that was just begging to be headed in by Carroll. The forward obliged, giving Newcastle a lead that they fully deserved.
Barton soon saw a shot deflected over, and Shola Ameobi headed wide as the visitors looked to kill off the Hammers, who soon brought on Mexican winger Pablo Barrera in a bid to force an equaliser.
It wasn’t a very strong bid though. Lacking in fight or desire, West Ham couldn’t seem to muster the energy to test Krul in the closing stages, and were strangely subdued as the time ticked down.
Carroll almost scored again for Newcastle, but even that couldn’t muster much of a response from the hosts, who ended the match frustrated, forlorn, booed off and still propping up the table.
On this evidence, they’ll be there for a while.
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