Premier League Recap: West Ham Stun Magpies, Haaland Marches On

West Ham 3-1 Newcastle

West Ham United secured their first victory under Nuno Espírito Santo with a deserved 3-1 win over Newcastle United, ending their recent poor form and extending the Magpies’ winless run away from home to eight Premier League games.

The London Stadium crowd experienced a rollercoaster start. Within five minutes, Jarrod Bowen struck the post for the Hammers, and just seconds later, Jacob Murphy fired home from the edge of the area to give Newcastle the lead. West Ham thought they had a penalty when Bowen went down under Malick Thiaw’s challenge, but after a VAR review, referee Rob Jones overturned his decision, judging that Thiaw had touched the ball first.

Despite the early setback, West Ham remained competitive. Lucas Paquetá came close from a free-kick that Nick Pope tipped onto the post, and Max Kilman’s header forced another fine save from the Newcastle keeper. The hosts’ pressure eventually told before half-time as Paquetá’s 25-yard drive slipped past Pope at his near post to level the score.

In first-half stoppage time, fortune favoured West Ham when Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s cross was deflected into his own net by Sven Botman, turning the game on its head. Eddie Howe made a triple substitution at the break to inject life into his side, but Newcastle struggled to create clear chances. Freddie Potts thought he had added a third for the hosts, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside in the build-up.

As the match wore on, Newcastle faded, and West Ham controlled the closing stages. With virtually the final kick of the game, Tomáš Souček sealed a crucial 3-1 victory that could prove vital in their fight for survival ahead of their clash with Burnley next weekend.

Manchester City 3-1 Bournemouth

Manchester City bounced back from defeat at Aston Villa with a strong 3-1 win over AFC Bournemouth, maintaining their dominant head-to-head record (W16, L1) and perfect home streak against the Cherries.

Bournemouth thought they had shocked the Etihad inside the opening minute when Eli Junior Kroupi netted, but his effort was ruled offside. City quickly punished that lapse, with Erling Haaland racing onto Rayan Cherki’s clever flick to slot past Djordje Petrovic for the opener. The visitors hit back soon after, as Tyler Adams capitalised on a goalkeeping error from Gianluigi Donnarumma to smash home the equaliser.

Haaland struck again before the break, sprinting clear to round Petrovic and restore City’s lead with his 13th Премьер-лига goal of the season. Bournemouth continued to show fight after half-time, with Kroupi denied by Donnarumma following neat interplay with David Brooks and Alex Scott. However, City’s superior quality told once more, as Phil Foden set up Nico O’Reilly, who fired a composed finish into the far corner to make it 3-1.

The third goal ended Bournemouth’s resistance, and despite a flurry of substitutions from both sides, City comfortably saw out the match. The result lifted Pep Guardiola’s men into second place, moving one point clear of the Cherries, who slipped to fourth.