In a thrilling comeback, Newcastle United defeated West Ham United 4-3 at St. James’ Park to salvage their season.
Alexander Isak gave Newcastle the early advantage in the early afternoon kickoff on Saturday, but Michail Antonio, Mohammed Kudus, and Jarrod Bowen gave The Hammers the lead later in the game. Eddie Howe’s team kept suffering injuries until the last 13 minutes of regular time, when they mounted a dramatic comeback.
Isak helped substitute Harvey Barnes to equalise the score after scoring a second penalty to make it 3-2. Barnes’ spectacular second goal in the ninetieth minute completed an amazing comeback and thrilling victory for the team, who ended the game with 10 men when Anthony Gordon was given a second yellow card late in the game.
Before the international break, Howe made just one forced substitution from the team that lost 2-0 at Manchester City, starting Tino Livramento at right back in place of the injured Sven Botman.
Barnes, who has missed the last two games due to a hamstring injury, is also back on the bench. Prior to Saturday’s game, Kieran Trippier had missed the previous two games and arrived late at St. James’ Park, raising the possibility that he would play again, but he eventually did not make the matchday squad due to a calf injury.
Unfortunately for Newcastle, the injuries didn’t stop coming. Jamaal Lascelles had to leave the team early due to a knee issue, which ultimately caused defensive pandemonium – more on that later. Both Livramento and substitute Miguel Almiron were substituted off after Lascelles’ injury forced them to play left back.
With Newcastle having used all five of their substitutes, defender Fabian Schar was forced to continue despite experiencing hamstring pain in the final moments of the game.
Eddie Howe’s defensive dilemma
Howe had to make a tough call early in the game, with Newcastle ahead 1-0 thanks to a penalty kick from Isak, due to Lascelles’ injury. Paul Dummett, Emil Krafth, and Lewis Hall were dispatched to warm up while the Magpies’ captain was attended to.
Dan Burn would have moved to left centre back, Schar to the opposite side, and Livramento would have stayed at right back if Hall had been introduced. Schar would have moved to the right center-back position after Dummett’s hypothetical entrance at centre back, leaving Livramento and Burn as the full-backs.
Instead, Howe chose to start Krafth at right-back, which caused Livramento to move to left-back, Schar to move to the other side, and Burn to take up the centre position.
Not unexpectedly, that resulted in The Magpies’ defence being disjointed and disorganised. After just four minutes, Krafth helped The Hammers equalise by playing Antonio onside.
Just before halftime, West Ham’s disputed quick free-kick, which was taken while Schar was on the ground clutching his face, gave the visitors the lead as Newcastle’s defence was caught napping. This was just one example of the team’s defensive woes.
Shortly after the restart, West Ham countered from a corner and Bowen made it 3-1 with no defending in sight.
The game-changing alterations made by Newcastle United and the appearance of Emil Krafth.
Following Livramento’s injury, Howe had to reverse his initial substitution of Hall for Krafth, as well as the addition of Elliot Anderson and Almiron. Harvey Barnes would take over for the latter after barely ten minutes.
The first change is a difficult one because Dan has played left-back for so long, we sort of view him in that position,” Howe said in explaining his changes. He seemed like the greatest person to enter.
Knowing that losing Jamaal would be a major physical blow to us, I decided to go for a little bit more height with Emil to counter West Ham’s set-play danger.
However, I wanted to give the substitutes an opportunity to settle into and advance through the game in the second half. We’d just lost a little momentum at the time, so I felt we needed to make the adjustments sooner rather than later.
I thought we were really lifted when Lewis, Elliot, and Miggy came on, and of course Harvey scored the two goals.
[Krafth substitution] wasn’t an injury,” Howe continued. As many offensive players as possible were the players I wanted on the pitch.
Newcastle was able to take the lead thanks in large part to the substitutions of Anderson, Hall, and Barnes.
Lewis Hall’s loan stint with Newcastle hasn’t been easy; he’s only made one Premier League start and hadn’t appeared in any of the team’s previous six league games before to this past Saturday.
Expectations are raised by a ‘nailed on’ £28 million commitment to purchase the 19-year-old, but Hall hasn’t had many chances to shine this season. With the exception of a goal in a 3-0 Carabao Cup victory against Manchester United, the teenager hasn’t exactly taken advantage of the few opportunities that have presented themselves.
However, Hall’s performance on Saturday was by far his greatest while wearing a Newcastle shirt. Although Barnes will be hailed as a “super sub” for his two goals, Howe’s team sprang to life in the last minutes thanks to Hall’s left-back substitution.
He went on a full-out energy show, stifling The Hammers and getting forward effectively to help Newcastle turn the tide. Even though there have been concerns about the hefty price Newcastle will have to pay Chelsea for Hall this summer, displays like that demonstrate why the player is so highly esteemed.
This season, Newcastle had won a game after falling behind for the first time. This season, the Magpies have scored 13 goals by substitutes, a Premier League record, with Barnes accounting for four of those goals at the Gallowgate End.
With nine games left, the victory puts Howe’s team in the running for European qualifying. They are now in eighth place, one point behind West Ham with one game left to play.
This season, eighth place might be sufficient to qualify for the Europa Conference League, while seventh place might earn tickets to the Europa League. Even if it appeared to be in the final moments of the contest on Saturday, Newcastle’s season is still very much alive as it prepares to play Everton on Tuesday night (kickoff at 7:30 p.m.).
