SICKENING
Shelvey leveller leaves Moyes feeling queasy for run-in
SHOULD West Ham ultimately be relegated, they will be left cursing one of their own.
Born and raised in Romford, Jonjo Shelvey was a Hammers fan as a child and still has a house next to their training ground at Rush Green.
The midfielder played for West Ham as a schoolboy and nearly signed for them again last summer — but he has twice been a thorn in their side this season.
Shelvey scored Newcastle’s third and final goal with a free-kick in November’s 3-2 victory at the London Stadium.
And yesterday he cost West Ham another two points with an equaliser which could prove so costly in his boyhood club’s battle to beat the drop.
That it came just 92 seconds after the visitors had retaken the lead left David Moyes ‘sickened’, especially as Pablo Fornals dozed off to play Dwight Gayle — who provided the assist for Shelvey — onside.
This was the first away point Moyes has managed in his second stint as Hammers boss, stopping a rot of seven straight league defeats on the road, a run which began before his appointment on December 30. But following Wednesday’s win over Chelsea, this was an opportunity missed to make it a perfect week.
It remains to be seen whether this draw will be enough come the end of the campaign, with West Ham four points clear of the bottom three with five games to go.
‘ I was sickened because we worked so hard to get the lead back and we gave it up so quickly,’ said Moyes. ‘We didn’t give ourselves a chance to settle down and I am disappointed with our defending. I am not disappointed with the point, but I felt it was an opportunity to get three.
‘ In the last two games the players have shown big spirit, big heart, good determination and commitment. The players are showing great fight.
‘We could easily go right to the last game of the season and we are prepared for that. But we’re trying to make sure we do it as quickly as we can and make sure we are a Premier League club before it gets to the last knockings.’ Newcastle have no such relegation concerns because they are 12th and just two points behind 10th-placed Tottenham in their quest to finish in the top half.
Newcastle manager Steve Bruce said: ‘I am happy with the result in the end after going behind twice.
‘If somebody had said that we would have 43 points with five games to play, a lot would have said that is not possible. Now we have to finish as strongly as we possibly can and try to finish in the top 10.’ In West Ham’s fine 3-2 victory over Chelsea, Michail Antonio did the damage, scoring and setting up Andriy Yarmolenko’s late winner. And he was quickly on the mark again here, putting the Hammers ahead after four minutes.
Antonio began the move which saw Fornals slide in the brilliant Jarrod Bowen down the right, with the forward cutting the ball across goal. Bowen’s cross was behind Jamaal Lascelles, who got his feet in an almighty mess as he tried to clear. And the Newcastle skipper only served to nudge it back to the unmarked Antonio, who took one touch before powering into the net.
The hosts made amends for their captain’s clanger by levelling 13 minutes later. It was another free- flowing Newcastle move, straight out of the playbook which saw them score four at Bournemouth in midweek.
Danger man Allan Saint-Maximin threaded the ball through to Emil Krafth, who centred for their top scorer Miguel Almiron to slide
in and fire past Lukasz Fabianski at his near post.
West Ham could have gone back ahead before the break were it not for Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka reacting well with his legs to keep out Bowen.
But they did retake the lead 25 minutes from time. From Bowen’s corner, Declan Rice hammered a header against the bar and the ball rebounded to Tomas Soucek, who swept in left-footed for his second goal in as many games.
This time, though, West Ham’s advantage did not even last two minutes as Shelvey passed to Gayle, who would have been well offside had Fornals pushed up as he should have done.
Instead, Gayle was able to touch the ball back to Shelvey and he finished past Fabianski to secure a draw despite sub Yarmolenko’s late piledriver which Dubravka had to tip clear. ‘If anybody has bought into what we require, then it’s Jonjo,’ beamed Bruce about his goalscorer.
‘He has tried like anything to make it happen.
‘At the minute, he looks a really, really good player and that is all down to Jonjo and his ability to grasp what we are trying to put into him.’