Newcastle Player Ratings vs West Ham as Magpies earned a crucial 3 points

The Magpies can finally take a sigh of relief as they are now 8 points above the drop zone and also have a game in hand. As Newcastle United beat West Ham 3-2 at the St James’ in arguably a season-defining game.

In a clumsy match of two halves and an entertaining one for the neutrals. But thankfully for the toon supporters, their side comes out on top over 90 minutes of a thriller.

Joe Willock once again turned out to be the savior of Steve Bruce’s very lucky Bacon edging us to safety.

There are warriors out on the pitch, who have literally saved us from another relegation panic attack and depression. So let us take a look at the player rating and analysis from the West Ham game.

Martin Dubravka — 6.5

Did make a couple of good saves, can do better with the first goal but I will not blame him for that. Didn’t have much to do but did make a crucial save from a Coufal header.

Jacob Murphy — 6.5

Murphy had a decent game made 2 tackles, took 3 shots came close to scoring one but his shot was saved by a brilliant goal-line clearance by Ben Johnson. He’s very good on counters with his pace, dribbling, and directness in taking shots offers something different and crucially was never out of position.

Fede Fernandez — 7

Lead the line brilliantly, was at fault for Issa Diop’s headed goal provided him with a free header. He did compensate for that with his 3 tackles, 7 clearances and 3 aerial duels won.

Ciaran Clark — 7

Made big defensive contributions, obviously made 11 clearances, shed the blood for the badge. Did make a mistake by raising his hand when competing for the ball against Soucek when dealing with a corner but I’m not sure that was a penalty otherwise we should start pencil jumps.

Paul Dummett — 6.5

As I said from time to time, Ritchie and Dummett complement each other perfectly. He was aerially dominant with his 4 aerial duels ranks most on the pitch. He contributes to every defensive department either be it his 3 clearances or 3 Interceptions.

Matt Ritchie — 7.5

Photo by Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images

Had a tough task of handling militant Coufal. Ritchie went on to bang his head to compete for the aerial ball with the dud. His overall contribution is very decent 2 key passes, pinged in 4 crosses got a deserved assist. Coufal gave him a tough afternoon but ultimately the scot has the last laugh. He deserves the armband and rightly praised by fans as he has “a heart of a lion” he gave it all for the badge and showed desire at pressing.

Jonjo Shelvey — 5

A disaster-class from our stand-in-captain. I was raving about his particular performances against West Ham but really he let me down. A poor showing couldn’t even complete 1 accurate long ball, absolutely anonymous in the midfield.

Sean Longstaff — 6

After a decent first half, then he sat back very much and didn’t go for the tackles in the second. A poor game overall for Sean, he really needs to step up to cement his place otherwise it the way Willock is playing, the Arsenal loanee deserves a place in the starting lineup and as we know Brucey rarely drops Shelvey, then his position is under serious threat.

Miguel Almiron — 7.5

Miggy really is magic play him left-back he’ll produce more than the whole lot from there itself. His ball-progression ability is undoubted 3 dribbles and 3 key passes. It seems Brucey is again playing with his position. He has had more tackles and Interceptions than the other two midfielders combined. He did scuff over the ball when Wilson squared him a pass for a tap-in to seal the game, he should learn to stop his Ferrari F1 engine.

Joelinton — 8

An excellent performance from the Brazilian was pressing hard high up the field, he was known at Hoffenheim for creating the counters and regaining possession, he gave us a reflection of that in this game. He has many abilities and qualities such as hold-up play he’s not a proper winger neither a No. 9 but he gives the team an outlet to hold the ball.

Photo by Owen Humphreys - Pool/Getty Images

And we Newcastle fans criticized him for not being in the box, he heard us I guess! literally latched upon the ball in the hunger for the goal, Fabianski gave him a gift(I was literally in tears watching him score from that range ).

Allan Saint-Maximin — 8.5

Our most creative player by a mile! He completed 3 dribbles, made 5 key passes, and took 5 shots on goal. These numbers suggest that he created chances for himself and has the responsibility to score himself.

Was electric the whole afternoon and was a nightmare for West Ham defenders. Gave a pretty dreadful time to Mark Noble’s poor old legs. He elevates the team as a whole with his directness and trickery.

Substitutes

Callum Wilson — 7

Was Instrumental coming on as a sub and again showed us what he brings to the team the explosiveness, hold-up play, and hard ground-running he possesses all, he’s constantly running the channels and created a wonderful chance for Almiron. I think He should have taken the shot and should have scored in the dying minutes when he dribbled past the whole Hammers defense.

Joe Willock — 7.5

Headed home the all-important winner from a wicked Ritchie cross. His late goals have proved vital in our survival, he should be starting ahead of Shelvey and Longstaff. Newcastle should make his transfer permanent come this summer, for sure.

A midfield trio of Willock, Longstaff, and Hayden/Matty Longstaff, this is the trio that can make us more solid at the back so no need for wing-backs, has all mobility, dynamism, and stamina to run up and down the whole day, and most importantly they have grit and desire, unlike Shelvey or Hendrick.

Andy Carroll — N/A