NEWCASTLE UTD WEST HAM UTD JAV SOME
Tyne tears as forward-thinking Pelle salutes his Little Pea shooter
MANUEL PELLEGRINI claimed his “brave” gamble on Javier Hernandez helped West Ham turn in “the complete performance”.
The Hammers boss went for broke, pairing the ‘ Little Pea’ Hernandez and Marco Arnautovic up front, with marauding Felipe Anderson wide on the left also causing havoc.
And the trio rampaged through Newcastle’s badly exposed defence to end the Geordies’ four-game unbeaten run and humiliate the home side. Hernandez scored in each half, and £ 45million star man Anderson ran United ragged netting in injury time.
Pellegrini said: “I am pleased because we played a complete game. We created chances, and kept a clean sheet.
“I like to play two strikers. Maybe I was scared to do it after West Ham had won once here 19 years or something! But it worked.
“Review Javier’s career: he has played for Manchester United, Real Mad r i d , Mex i c o, Leverkusen. He scores goals. A career that is for big teams and offers something different. I hope he can continue this way.
“Earlier this season he had a virus for five weeks. He couldn’t work. He came from the World Cup, became ill, then came back and has been playing 50- 55 minutes for us. Now he is in good shape.
“I like his partnership with Arnautovic. He is a striker and scores. We have not played badly recently, but needed more goals. As for
Fel i pe, he played wel l also. He needs to learn the
Premier
League.”
Newca s t l e fans planned an 11th-minute “walk- in” to protest at Mike Ashley’s regime, but with limited success.
There were small gaps in the stands at kick-off ( below), but there was a huge moment as the clock stuck 3.11pm. And it was Newca s t l e’s defence that looked to have walked out as Her n a n d e z opened the scoring.
Robert Snodgrass broke away to cross for Hernandez,