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Jeff Hendrick scored a debut goal for a perfect start to life at Newcastle, who claimed a convincing 2-0 win over West Ham.
Also rookie Callum Wilson, signed last week for £ 20 million from Bournemouth, scored his eighth goal in nine appearances against the Hammers for a well deserved victory.
It was another miserable start to the season for West Ham, who have now lost their last five games on opening day, a Premier League record.
And with a horrendous string of games to come, they could already be in deep trouble by the end of October.
They were in a mild state of disarray even before a ball was kicked this season, enraging fans and players, particularly captain Mark Noble, with the controversial sale of Grady Diangana to West Brom.
That, and the lack of incoming transfers, has caused the club’s board to come under fire again and, although fans are still not allowed in, a handful gathered outside the stadium to protest.
The hosts had to deal with not only Wilson, but also the return of their former demolition striker Andy Carroll, who took just 20 seconds to announce that he was back, planting a lost elbow in Tomas Soucek’s face.
Despite Newcastle’s recent failed acquisition attempt by the Middle East, there seems to be some cause for optimism at the club for a change.
Two of his summer recruits combined twice well in the early stages to nearly put them ahead, Wilson narrowly deflected with a header near the post and then a cross shot from Jamal Lewis.
With Newcastle at the top, Hammers goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski had to make a strong save to block a Federico Fernandez header, while Jonjo Shelvey hit the side net, Carroll flew and Wilson curled inches wide.
However, against the game’s streak, it was West Ham who came closest to opening the scoring in the first half, with two hits off the crossbar via a header from Angelo Ogbonna and a deflected shot from Pablo Fornals.
Soucek also looked at a deflected header from a Ryan Fredericks cross and Jarrod Bowen shot too high as the half came to an end.
Newcastle kept pushing after the break and made the breakthrough in the 56th minute.
Javier Manquillo reached the starting line and threw a cross to the near post that Hendrick lit for Wilson to drive home.
West Ham tried to hit back and was furious about missing a penalty when Sebastien Haller’s shot hit Hendrick’s arm.
But his miserable night was compounded when Hendrick found the top corner from 15 yards with three minutes remaining.
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