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West Ham turned in a strong performance at St James’ Park to claim a draw against Newcastle despite falling behind in the opening minutes.
The Hammers were lucky when Joe Willock’s goal after 40 seconds was ruled out because the ball had gone out of play beforehand, but conceded moments later when Callum Wilson raced through on goal and slotted beyond Lukasz Fabianski.
But David Moyes’ side responded well and weathered the storm, before Lucas Paqueta notched his second goal of the season after a scramble from a corner to go into the break level.
The second half was a really even affair with both teams battling hard in midfield, but there were not really any clear chances for either side as the points were shared.
Here is how we rated each player’s performance at West Ham Zone..
Lukasz Fabianski – 6/10
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The Polish stopper should have been more commanding for the opening goal, but he grew as the game went on and claimed crosses well to relieve pressure. A good performance overall.
Vladimir Coufal – 6/10
Coufal looks far more comfortable playing in this back five than he does in a back four these days, and the extra protection certainly helps his defensively. He needs to provide more of a threat going forward though, or he faces being replaced.
Thilo Kehrer – 4/10
A poor showing for the German. Was at fault for the opening goal as he was caught ball watching, and had a tough time against Wilson before being hooked at half-time and replaced by Ben Johnson due to an apparent injury.
Angelo Ogbonna – 5/10
Probably the Italian’s worst performance since returning to the side. He was wasteful in possession, got caught ball watching for the Newcastle goal and was chasing Wilson’s shadow for the whole game.
Nayef Aguerd – 7/10
Another excellent performance from the Moroccan as he showed how much he was missed in the first half of the season by West Ham. His performance was summed up by a stunning block late on to deny Wilson and keep the point in the bag for the Hammers.
Emerson Palmieri – 5/10
He’s finally being given a run in the side but he’s not really doing enough to claim that starting spot as his own right now. He has great energy and technical ability, but he needs to apply it more when going forward and be sharper defensively as Anthony Gordon gave him problems in the second half.
Declan Rice – 8/10
A man of the match performance from the skipper as he led by example and dragged this team up to the level required. He wasn’t happy when they fell behind early, and it was his brilliant cross that got them back into it. Back to his best.
Lucas Paqueta – 7/10
More glimpses of the brilliance that convinced us to spend a club record amount. Paqueta drove from deep brilliantly, kept the ball well and worked hard off the ball defensively. Deserved his goal, and the celebration wasn’t bad either.
Jarrod Bowen – 5/10
Considering he’s been in good form coming into this game, this wasn’t a good performance from Bowen. He looked tired and lethargic and couldn’t get the better of Dan Burn at all, despite a huge pace advantage and plenty of space in behind. Never really looked a threat.
Said Benrahma – 5/10
Another pretty poor showing from the attack, with Benrahma largely missing for a lot of the game. He had one shot in the first half that he should have done better with and aside from that did next to nothing.
Michail Antonio – 6/10
Antonio gave his absolute everything in this game. He constantly ran the channels, he tested the Newcastle defenders physically and held the ball up well too. That lack of quality let him down overall, but we know what we get with him now.
Substitutes
Ben Johnson – 6/10
Far better performance from Johnson than we saw from Kehrer, and considering this isn’t his natural position it was even more impressive. His passing was good, he held the line well and he covered for Coufal whenever he pushed forward. A great option for Moyes going forward.
Tomas Soucek – N/A
Pablo Fornals – N/A
Danny Ings – N/A