WHERE THERE IS A WILLOCK THERE’S A WAY
INEWCASTLE ........ 3 WEST HAM .......... 2
F Joewillock 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 the Geordies after they looked like squandering a two-goal lead against 10-manwest 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.
With Newcastle sitting back after the break, Diop reduced the deficit on 73 minutes and Jesse Lingard equalised from the penalty spot seven minutes later following Ciaran Clark’s handball.
The Magpies were rocking but after Ben Johnson brilliantly blocked a Jacob Murphy shot on the line, Willock met Matt Ritchie’s cross with a bullet header – only his second touch after coming off the bench.
He scored in Newcastle’s last home win over Southampton and also earned a vital point against Tottenham.
Landing Willock in January is proving an inspirational bit of business for boss Steve Bruce, who said: “We brought him here because of his ability to score and he’s certainly made quite an impact. 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.”
Bruce’s heart was in his mouth on 12 minutes, when Allan Saint-maximin was on the end of a feisty tackle by Vladimir Coufal, but the French magician recovered to unleash his full range of skills.
Saint-maximin lasted an hour and Bruce revealed his swollen ankle could make him a doubt for the trip to Liverpool next weekend.
He engineered the vital breakthrough on 36 minutes, when referee Kevin Friend played an excellent advantage after Dawson hacked down Joelinton. Saint-maximin’s shot was bundled over the line by Diop and the Hammers were dealt a double whammy as Dawson saw red.
There was worse to come for keeper Fabianski as he failed to deal with a routine Ritchie corner, allowing Joelinton to pounce.
West Ham’s fightback was praised by boss David Moyes, who said: “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.”