Pranav Shahaney

Sat 17 April 2021 14:50, UK

Former West Ham manager and Premier League pundit Alan Curbishley has slammed West Ham defender Craig Dawson for his ‘reckless’ challenge against Newcastle.

The Hammers dug a grave for themselves and their top-four hopes by conceding a silly goal and then going down to ten men in the first half against Newcastle.

They managed to score two unlikely second-half goals to equalise, but Joe Willock’s late winner meant the Hammers will return to East London empty-handed.

Dawson, who was already on a yellow, took a woeful touch and then lunged into Joelinton’s stride with both feet.

Referee Kevin Friend played the advantage which resulted in Newcastle’s opener courtesy of an Issa Diop own goal, but he revisited the Dawson foul and gave him his marching orders with a second yellow.

Speaking on Premier League Productions’ half-time show, Curbishley said, “That foul for the second yellow could have been a straight red.

“It was a dreadful touch followed by an even reckless challenge, what was he thinking?

“There were no complaints from him or the West Ham players, but this could prove to be bit of a blow to their top-four hopes.

We’re our own worst enemy

The challenge didn’t look good, but neither did our performance against Newcastle.

This was our chance to solidify our top-four credentials and we ended up doing the exact opposite, capitulating to a side battling relegation.

Recently we’ve capitalised on the likes of Leicester, Chelsea and Tottenham dropping points, but with this result, we’ve given them a chance to cover up the deficit while Leicester could go four points clear with a win over West Brom.

Our next game against Chelsea, which was already a six-pointer for fourth place, is now a must-win.

If we end up losing to Chelsea, and they win their game in hand, they’ll be five points clear of us – which is enough daylight with five games to go.

In other West Ham news, ‘£30m is a bargain’ – talkSPORT pundit urges West Ham to sign ‘Phenomenal’ 28y/o