MATCH STATS
NEWCASTLE UNITED 3 Diop (og, 36) Joelinton 41, Willock 82 WEST HAM 2
Diop (73), Lingard (pen, 80)
Steve Bruce refused to accept that Newcastle had secured their Premier League status after a thrilling victory over Champions League hopefuls, West Ham, eased them nine points clear of trouble.
The Magpies climbed to 15th place in the table with a win against the Hammers, which took them to 35 points and eased their fears of being dragged into the thick of the survival fight.
However, asked if that represented safety, head coach Bruce said: “I’m not going to take anything for granted.
“I’ve always said it’s the accumulation of points, and 35, in my opinion, is not enough, so you won’t get me jumping and hollering at the moment.
“We’ve still got six games to play – can we finish above where we did last year? Can we beat last year’s points tally? We’ll try our utmost.”
Bruce guided the club to a 13th-place finish with 44 points last season, but with Liverpool, Arsenal, Leicester and champions elect Manchester City to come in their next four fixtures, they will do well to match it this time.
Their latest three points were secured in dramatic fashion as Joe Willock came off the bench to head them to victory just when it looked as if they had squandered a potentially decisive advantage.
They led 2-0 after 41 minutes through Issa Diop’s own goal and a second from Joelinton – after he had cashed in on keeper Lukasz Fabianski’s blunder – and with defender Craig Dawson having been sent off for a second bookable offence in the run-up to the opener, the visitors’ prospects looked bleak.
However, they fought back in determined style and gave themselves a chance when Diop atoned for his earlier error with a 73rd-minute header, before Jesse Lingard levelled from the spot with 10 minutes remaining after Ciaran Clark had been penalised for handball after a VAR review.
But after Jacob Murphy had seen his shot cleared off the line, Willock pounced with a thumping header to finally settle a thrilling encounter.
For David Moyes, there were mixed feelings. He said: “I wouldn’t say it was a chance lost, it was an opportunity for us to pick up three points.
“We made a couple of mistakes which probably cost us.”