Garth Crooks shares ‘terrific’ verdict on what he saw from West Ham United v Newcastle
Garth Crooks believes it was a “terrific” game between West Ham and Newcastle United as the sides played out a draw on Sunday (8 October).
Writing on the BBC Sport website on Sunday, the pundit paid tribute to the performance of the two outfits after they had both played in Europe in midweek.
He added that the game was played in the “right spirit” by the two “emerging teams”, with Tomas Soucek opening the scoring for the Hammers and Mohammed Kudus grabbing a late equaliser in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium.
Quality on display
There is no doubt that these two teams now possess more quality than they did for a number of years as they both continue to challenge near the top end of the table.
Newcastle have obviously had an upturn in fortunes following their takeover and the appointment of Eddie Howe as the manager, while West Ham have competed well over the past couple of years under David Moyes.
There were a few contentious decisions in the game, though, with Bruno Guimaraes incredibly lucky to not be sent off and a soft foul being given in the build-up to the Magpies’ equaliser.
It was a good game for any neutrals watching on and it would be a surprise if both sides weren’t involved in the battle for the European places again this season.
The Hammers will have been pleased to see Kudus notch his first Premier League goal, with the international break meaning they can now take a breather from league action for a couple of weeks.
In other West Ham news, a talkSPORT pundit has raged at a recent development regarding one Hammers star.