football.co.uk web
skip to content
FULL TIME: WEST HAM 3 - 1 NEWCASTLE - Phil Dowd brings what was a fairly poor second-half to a close and West Ham take all three points. Newcastle failed to show any improvements since last weekend's shock defeat to Hull.
Boa Morte is picked out behind the Newcastle defence and has acres of space, one-on-one with Shay Given, but the winger somehow manages to put the ball wide of the target in what is surely his contender for miss of the season.
The fourth official indicates three minutes of added time.
Di Michele has the ball down the right flank and Sears wants it playing into his feet in the box, but the Italian dwells on the ball and eventually loses out to Coloccini.
Gianfranco Zola makes his third and final substitution of the game with Carlton Cole leaving the field for Freddie Sears
Phil Dowd shows his third yellow card of the game to N'Zogbia for dissent after slamming the ball into the ground in frustration.
Geremi lines up a free-kick but he bends it around the wall and straight into the arms of Green.
Ignacio Maria Gonzalez, who passed a late fitness test to make the squad for today's game, replaces Claudio Cacapa
Steven Taylor is cautioned and receives a lengthy talk from Phil Dowd after showing dissent
Cacapa manages to get his head to a cross in the box but he fails to make a good connection with the ball and it glances off his head and over Green's crossbar.
Owen takes the ball forward and has support from Xisco who he picks out with a pass, but the Spaniard's shot is lazy and fails to work Green.
Claudio Cacapa runs through the centre of the park at goal and is about to get a shot away from 20-yards before Behrami puts a foot in to knock the ball away for a throw-in.
Goalscorer Matthew Etherington makes way in a straight swap for Luis Boa Morte.
Newcastle throw players forward in numbers for a free-kick in a good position, but Geremi's delivery is too close to Green who plucks the ball out of the air.
Scott Parker does not look to have fully recovered since receiving treatment for a head injury and he leaves the field with Hayden Mullins entering the fray.
Newcastle look a completely different side since the goal and the home fans are getting nervy and restless, despite still holding a two goal lead.
Duff picks up the ball and gets a shot away looking to mimic what Owen did moments ago, but he does not connect properly and it is an easy save in the end for Green.
WEST HAM 3-1 NEWCASTLE: MICHAEL OWEN finds himself half a yard in the box and bends a stunning shot around Robert Green and into the far corner of the goal.
Cole threads a good ball into the box and Noble has space for a shot but he dummies the ball thinking he has team-mates in space behind him, but the ball instead runs through to a Newcastle defender.
Xisco picks up the ball in a decent position but he is bullied off the ball by Lucas Neill and shows his frustration as Phil Dowd waves away his appeals for a free-kick.
Bassong makes an immediate impact and picks out Owen on the edge of the box but his shot is blocked by the face of Parker, who is now in need of treatment.
Chris Hughton makes his first change of the game with Sebastien Bassong replacing David Edgar.
Newcastle are all over the place at the back and if it continues the scoreline will surely increase in the home side's favour.
Ilunga reaches the byline and cuts a low cross back into the feet of Di Michele who makes a mess of his first time shot, sending it high over the crossbar.
There is a clear response to the arrival of Gianfranco Zola as the biggest attendance of the season is announced at Upton Park.
WEST HAM 3-0 NEWCASTLE: Cole opens up the Newcastle defence with a through ball to Di Michele. The striker takes the ball into the box and slides a pass through to MATTHEW ETHERINGTON who has an easy finish at the far post.
Owen gets his head on a Geremi free-kick but it is straight down the throat of Robert Green who makes his first save of the game.
Lucas Neill picks up the first booking of the game for a rash challenge on Michael Owen.
Newcastle still don't look like troubling their opponents and this match is a stroll in the park for West Ham, though they could make it difficult for themselves if they get complacent.
Faubert puts a looping cross into the box and finds Cole but he directs his header wide of the target from 12-yards out.
The sides return to the pitch after half-time team-talks and both remain unchanged for the time being.
HALF TIME: WEST HAM 2-0 NEWCASTLE - The visitors look like a side without belief and have asked no questions of West Ham who take a thoroughly deserved 2-0 lead in at the break.
Chris Hughton will be bitterly disappointed with his side's poor defending for the second goal. His side were just starting to get a feel for the game but are now back on the back foot.
England boss Fabio Capello has been spotted in the stands at Upton Park and players such as Scott Parker and Matthew Upson will be looking to impress him today.
Newcastle look like a beaten side as we approach the end of the first half, and questions will be raised as to whether the side has the morale or confidence to make a comeback in this game.
West Ham break again with Herita Ilunga down the left flank, but his cross is too high for his team-mates and Newcastle pick up the ball.
WEST HAM 2-0 NEWCASTLE: Noble sees a gaping hole in the Newcastle defence and slides a pass through to DI MICHELE. The striker's shot is saved by the head of Given but the Italian gets to the rebound and makes no mistake with a left-footed volley.
Mark Noble gets a shot away from outside the box but he curls the ball wide of the far post.
West Ham are looking a little more nervy and 'safety first' at the moment, but Michael Owen and Xisco are still finding it difficult to get into the game.
It is worth noting that this fixture has a habit of turning on its head. Last season Newcastle were 2-0 down at Upton Park before levelling the scoreline with two goals in two minutes.
Newcastle pin West Ham back and put them under pressure for the first time in the game, but they seem to be running out of ideas in the final third.
Valon Behrami looks like he is playing in a free role as he is roaming all over the pitch and getting crosses into the box, but West Ham seem to be quite cautious and are not committing many players forward
Cole breaks away down the right flank and he looks for a team-mate in the box, but his cross is too high and sails behind for a Newcastle goal-kick.
Scott Parker throws himself in front of a Newcastle shot and Damien Duff appeals for handball and a penalty, but Phil Dowd waves away the protests.
Di Michele is controlling the game, playing in the gap just behind Cole and stringing together all the play for the home side.
Newcastle are trying to feel their way back into the game but simply cannot keep hold of the ball at the moment
The ball drops to Carlton Cole and he gets a snap shot away but he sends the ball wide of the mark.
Phil Dowd gives West Ham a dubious free-kick after a Fabricio Coloccini challenge, but again Noble fails to trouble Given.
The home side look confident after opening the scoring and the crowd are well behind them, but the tempo has slowed down a little now and the claret and blue players are more than happy just to keep hold of possession.
The Hammers win a free-kick in a decent position and Mark Noble lines it up, but fails to work Shay Given sending the ball over the bar.
West Ham have made a bright start to the match and there is a refreshing buzz about Upton Park as Gianfranco Zola gets a huge cheer, making his first appearance at the edge of the technical area.
WEST HAM 1-0 NEWCASTLE: DAVID DI MICHELE makes a decent run and picks up the ball in a good position. He gets a shot away from the edge of the box which deflects off David Edgar's boot and loops into the back of the net.
A ball over the top catches the Newcastle defence off guard and David Di Michele latches onto it but doesn't make the most of the opportunity.
Etherington gets to the byline but again dwells on the ball, proving he is unconfident with his right foot, and Newcastle regain possession.
An early mistake from Steven Taylor gives an opportunity to Matthew Etherington, but the winger takes too long in getting a shot away and Taylor gets back to deflect the ball behind for a corner.
Referee Phil Dowd gets the game underway
NEWCASTLE: Given, Edgar, Taylor, Coloccini, N'Zogbia, Geremi, Cacapa, Butt, Duff, Owen, Xisco. SUBS: Harper, Bassong, Gonzalez, Ameobi, Tozer, Doninger, Donaldson
WEST HAM: Green, Behrami, Upson, Neill, Ilunga, Faubert, Noble, Parker, Etherington, Di Michele, Cole. SUBS: Lastuvka, Lopez, Boa Morte, Mullins, Davenport, Reid, Sears
Newcastle caretaker manager Chris Hughton recalls Damien Duff to the starting line-up after the winger passed a late fitness test, but Obafemi Martins fails to make a comeback and midfielder Danny Guthrie is suspended.
New West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola is without injured strike-force Dean Ashton and Craig Bellamy for his first game in charge and the Italian has a re-shuffle in the United defence, moving skipper Lucas Neill to centre-back.
There's a new Italian hero down West Ham way. But while Gianfranco Zola kicked off his managerial career with a welcome win, it was his compatriot David Di Michele, who left the East End with the applause ringing in his ears. On-loan from Torino, the Italian hit-man shot down the Magpies with a double-barrelled blast and generously made a third goal for Matthew Etherington, before Michael Owen netted a late consolation on another nightmare afternoon for Newcastle United. Last week, 48 hours before he was officially due to move into the manager's office at Upton Park, Zola had sat in the stands at West Bromwich Albion, watching a suicidal West Ham United side hand the bottom-placed Baggies their first victory of the season. Seven days on, he was clearly determined that there was to be no repeat and, installing himself in the Hammers hot-seat for the first time, the Italian made three changes as Di Michele, Julien Faubert and Etherington came in for Dean Ashton (ankle) and substitutes Calum Davenport and Luis Boa Morte. In the opposite dug-out, Chris Hughton had already endured a baptism to forget as the Magpies' makeshift manager and, following last weekend's harrowing home defeat at the hands of Hull City, the ex-West Ham defender made two switches. Damien Duff and Fabricio Coloccini came in for Shola Ameobi and Danny Guthrie, who was suspended as a result of his lamentable, leg-breaking tackle on the Tigers' Craig Fagan. The Hammers may have been pointless on their travels but on the green, green grass of Upton Park, they kicked-off looking for a third successive home win of the new campaign and, indeed, they were soon ahead, once more. With just eight minutes on the clock, Carlton Cole invited Di Michele to cut in from the right, skip past Coloccini and then unleash an 18-yarder that deflected off David Edgar, before looping over the stranded Shay Given. Mark Noble then sent a couple of 20-yard free-kicks over the angle, while the industrious Cole fired just wide from similar range as West Ham, playing free-flowing football with pace and purpose, eagerly went in search of their second. As the half-hour approached, Owen diverted a header beyond the far post but that was mere token resistance in an opening period dominated by a Hammers side that was simply enthralling the home fans amongst the shirt-sleeved crowd of 34,743. Indeed, ten minutes before the break, Di Michele took another step towards entering East End folklore, when Noble sent him clear and, although Given parried his first shot, the inventive Italian was first to the loose ball, and after lifting it over Steven Taylor on the edge of the six-yard box, he fired home as Coloccini arrived on the scene a split-second, too late. Just after the break, Geremi's hopeful cross from the right flank sailed just beyond the far post and then Owen wastefully headed straight into the hitherto redundant Robert Green's hands from close range. But on 53 minutes, all hopes of a Tyneside turnaround evaporated, when that man Di Michele burst down the right wing and unselfishly squared into the six-yard box, where Etherington stole in front of Edgar to give the Hammers a three-goal advantage. On the hour mark, Di Michele should have claimed the match-ball but with time on his hands he impatiently blasted over from 15 yards as the muddling Magpies defence just stood and stared. Midway through the half, however, Owen reduced the deficit when he collected Claudio Cacapa's precision pass and beat Green with an equally inch-perfect, low, curling 18-yarder. The Hammers keeper then had to be at his best to foil both Cacapa and Duff but, on an afternoon that belonged to Zola and the on-fire Di Michele, time simply ran out for the beleaguered Geordies and their long-suffering supporters, who could have suffered an even worse fate had Boa Morte not incredibly missed an open goal in stoppage time.
Corners
Fouls
Goal attempts
Shots off target
Offsides
advertisement
football.co.uk