Football: Wilson rues ‘sloppy’ passing as Newcastle are held at home by West Ham
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Newcastle United's Callum Wilson (left) and Dan Burn (right) react at the end of the match.
PHOTO: AFP
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NEWCASTLE – Striker Callum Wilson rued “sloppy” passes as Newcastle United failed to make the most of a dream start as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to West Ham United that left them in fourth place in the English Premier League on Saturday.
“It was a frustrating day really,” Wilson, who was denied a second goal by a superb Nayef Aguerd tackle when clean through, told Sky Sports.
“I think we stopped doing the things that brought us success, a few sloppy passes here and there. We got the crowd going early but it tailed off.”
Wilson raced clear to put Eddie Howe’s team in front after three minutes, shortly after Joe Willock had a goal disallowed for the hosts.
But West Ham recovered well and deservedly levelled just past the half hour mark when Lucas Paqueta fired a low shot home at the far post from a corner – the first league goal Newcastle have conceded since early November.
Hammers boss David Moyes called the Brazilian “immense”, noting: “I’m glad for Lucas because we brought him to bring us some goals and the other thing is we haven’t scored many goals from set pieces this season. I think that’s probably one of our first goals from a set-piece.”
His right-back Vladimir Coufal added: “He never panics with the ball and his technique, his skills are unreal.
“He is playing like he was on the Copacabana. Sometimes when I see him with the ball, I am enjoying it on the pitch too and I don’t want to interrupt him; pass to me if you want, but if not then no worries!”
Newcastle dominated the second half but lacked the guile to find a way through West Ham’s defence. The Magpies drew for the fourth time in five Premier League matches to extend their unbeaten league run to 16.
They are on 40 points from 21 games, two points behind Manchester United who beat Crystal Palace earlier in the day.
West Ham are on 19 points from 21 games, one point above the relegation zone.
In the week that they reached their first domestic Cup final since 1999 the atmosphere was buoyant at St James Park and the stadium was rocking as the hosts flew out of the traps.
Willock seemed to have put Newcastle ahead but Miguel Almiron had just failed to keep the ball in play before crossing. It was a let-off for West Ham but almost immediately they were punished again for a lacklustre start.
Sean Longstaff split West Ham’s defence with a perfect pass and Wilson timed his run to stride through and place his shot past keeper Lukasz Fabianski.
Newcastle did not build on their start though, and West Ham worked their way back into the contest and equalised when Declan’s Rice’s corner arrived at Paqueta who poked a shot through Kieran Trippier’s legs and past Nick Pope.
After the break, Newcastle’s lack of goalscoring firepower returned to frustrate them as they huffed and puffed without creating many clear chances.
While Newcastle have the best defensive record in the top flight with only 12 goals conceded, they have now scored only twice in their last five league games.
Newcastle legend and the Premier League’s all-time top scorer Alan Shearer said on the BBC: “Lack of goals is probably the only concern with this Newcastle side.
“If you look at earlier on in the season, it was Almiron, who could score from almost anywhere, any angle.
“Callum got his goal tonight. There are others that I think need to chip in a bit more with their own goals, but it’s not a huge concern.” REUTERS
