Saturday, April 17, 2021 at 3:26 PM• Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk

West Ham United lost expensive points in the Premier League on Saturday. The number four in the rankings suffered a 3-2 defeat to number fifteen Newcastle United, which won 1-2 at Burnley last week and has won two league matches in a row for the second time this season. West Ham gives pursuers Liverpool and Chelsea the opportunity to take the disadvantage against the Hammers to polish away.

David Moyes was no doubt furious at halftime. Just as West Ham seemed to gain control of the game, the errors piled up. After Craig Dawson lost the ball in a dangerous place, it was Issa Diop who unluckily worked the ball into his own goal after a bet by Allan Saint-Maximin. To make matters worse, Dawson got a second yellow card afterwards when he tried to win the ball and torpedoed Joelinton.

Joelinton made perhaps the easiest goal of his career a few minutes before half time. Lukasz Fabianski let a ball slip out of his hands after a corner from the right, after which the Brazilian fired in from close range. Despite the under-game situation, West Ham managed to come back to 2-2 via a header from Diop and a penalty kick from Jesse Lingard, after a handball by Ciaran Clark, in the last twenty minutes.

Nevertheless, Newcastle was left with three points: after a sharp cross from Matt Richie from the left, substitute Joe Willock headed the ball in hard. That was also the final score, despite no less than eight minutes of extra time. West Ham United remains at 55 points and can be passed by Chelsea on Tuesday, which has one point less and will play at home against Brighton & Hove Albion on Tuesday. Liverpool has two points less than West Ham and will play at Leeds United on Monday.