Will forever
IF Joe Willock never kicks another ball for Newcastle, he’s earned the undying gratitude of the Toon Army.
The Arsenal loanee headed home an 82nd-minute winner to all but secure Premier League survival for Newcastle after they looked like throwing away a two-goal lead against 10-man West Ham.
The Hammers appeared down and out at half-time following an Issa Diop own goal, Joelinton pouncing on a Lukasz Fabianksi howler and Craig Dawson’s sending-off.
But with Newcastle sitting back after the break, Diop reduced the deficit in the 73rd minute and Jesse Lingard equalised from the spot seven minutes later following Ciaran Clark’s handball.
The Magpies were rocking but after Ben Johnson brilliantly blocked a Jacob Murphy shot on his own goalline, Willock – with only his second touch after coming off the bench – met Matt Ritchie’s cross with a bullet header.
He scored in Newcastle’s last home victory against Southampton and also earned a vital point with a late leveller against Tottenham a fortnight ago.
Steve Bruce has endured a turbulent campaign but landing Willock in the last window is proving an inspirational bit of business for the Toon boss.
“We brought him here because of his ability to score goals and he’s certainly made quite an impact,” said Bruce.
“Mind you, he won’t want to be known as a supersub!
“I’m taking nothing for granted in terms of staying up because 35 points is not enough in my opinion.
“Getting back-to-back wins and playing like we did in the first half is pleasing but now the aim is to beat last year’s tally.” He could not have scripted an opening period like this though.
Like every Toon fan, Bruce’s heart was in his mouth in the 12th minute when Allan Saint-Maximin was on the end of a feisty tackle by Vladimir Coufal.
For a few desperate moments he must have feared that his talisman’s game was over but the French magician recovered to unleash his full range of skills on a Hammers defence who were in panic mode whenever he ran at them.
Saint-Maximin lasted just over an hour and Bruce revealed afterwards his swollen ankle could make him a doubt for the trip to Liverpool next weekend.
He had already tested Fabianski with one effort from outside the box and seen a goalbound shot blocked by Diop before engineering the breakthrough in the 36th minute.
Referee Kevin Friend had a key role in Newcastle going ahead, playing an excellent advantage.
When Dawson failed to control the ball and compounded his error by hacking down Joelinton, the official was about to blow his whistle.
Instead, spotting Saint-Maximin advancing on goal, he delayed taking action enabling the Toon man to burst into the area.
Forced wide by Mark Noble, his finish lacked power but with Diop getting himself in a terrible tangle as he tried to clear, he only succeeded in putting off Fabianski and then bundling the ball over the line. The Hammers were then dealt a double whammy when Friend gave Dawson his marching orders.
But if the West Ham keeper thought that was bad, there was worse to come from him when he failed to deal with a routine Ritchie corner allowing Joelinton to pounce from virtually under the bar with his second goal in successive home games.
The Geordies’ record buy will never be a prolific marksman but, with his confidence high, he might have had another before half-time only for the Pole to partially redeem himself with a smart save.
For a team normally turbo-charged early on, the visitors were seriously undercooked in that first half before hitting back strongly.
“The players showed great character coming back with 10 men,” said boss David Moyes.
“The biggest disappointment was the last 10 minutes when we couldn’t see the game out after getting back to 2-2. But we’re not getting too down about it.”
Seasoned Toon watchers won’t have been too surprised that Newcastle didn’t go for the jugular on the restart, immediately slipping back into bad old passive habits.
And but for Willock, it might have had damaging consequences.
NEWCASTLE: Dubravka 6; Fernandez 6, Clark 5, Dummett
5; Murphy 7, Almiron 7, Shelvey 5, S Longstaff 6 (Willock
81st), Ritchie 7; Joelinton 6 (Carroll 90th), Saint-Maximin
9 (Wilson (64th) 6)
WEST HAM: Fabianski 4; Diop 7, Dawson 4, Ogbonna 6, Coufal 6; Noble 7 (Benrahma (75th) 6), Soucek 6, Johnson 7 (Fredericks 90th), Fornals 7; Bowen 7, Lingard 6 (Lanzini 87th)
STAR MAN: Allan Saint-Maximin
REF: K Friend
Newcastle’s next game: Liverpool, Apr 24 (a)
West Ham’s next game: Chelsea, Apr 24 (h)