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CALLUM WILSON proved that at least some traditions can be kept in the Covid era.
Newcastle’s £ 20m new striker scored and sank West Ham, his ninth goal in eight games against his favorite rival.
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It was hardly a dream debut because Wilson should have had even more. It was a surprise that it took 56 minutes for him to get his eye on the Hammers.
Twice before he had come close to giving his new team the advantage in a game Newcastle dominated with equally unexpected ease, aside from a few flurries from the weak Hammers.
Wilson’s first goal was a hit from a poacher – a foot kick from a couple of yards after Newcastle opened up another opportunity that exposed the home side’s weaknesses.
Playing alongside former West Ham striker Andy Carroll, Wilson had fired warning shots with his head and feet before finally hitting the mark and getting off to a great start after his move from Bournemouth.
It got even better when rookie Jeff Hendrick sealed it with three minutes to go.
This was a commanding display from start to finish.
West Ham complained bitterly in the second half that it should have received a penalty when substitute Sebastien Haller’s shot slammed into Hendrick’s shoulder.
There were furious protests when referee Stuart Attwell and the VAR rejected him. Hammers boss David Moyes even took the fight to the officers.
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But West Ham’s highly publicized pedestrian activity in the transfer market and the gap between fans and owners means that they are starting this season as they ended the last, with no new players and the same old storylines.
Newcastle, despite the failure of a £ 300 million acquisition in the summer, had enough money in the bank to spend on the headlines Jamal Lewis and Wilson.
And the first touch of the former Bournemouth striker angered by Newcastle came in the fifth minute when he positioned himself well to launch a quick header that veered off the left post and into the side net.
The West Ham nemesis approached again in the 21st minute, spinning a low cross from Lewis deflected from the same left hand.
There was even more frustration for Wilson and another disappointment for West Ham with five minutes remaining, as Newcastle’s predatory arc again focused on goal from the left edge of the area.
This time he threw the ball towards his right foot as he crossed the 18-yard line before launching a shot that had West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski clinging to space, only to see his graceful curved shooting arc just outside. from the right post.
Newcastle was light and looked cool. West Ham had lead in their boots.
Although David Moyes’ team hit the wood twice and was powerful when released, they spent the vast majority of the first half on their back foot.
Boss Moyes urgently wants a center back and now Hammers fans can see why.
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Frenchman Issa Diop isn’t as trustworthy as the hype around him suggests. Too often he’s left up to his athletic defensive partner, Angelo Ogbonna, to provide the last stretch or a timed tackle to clear the danger.
Never again than in the 32nd minute when Carroll, for most of his six years at the club considered an injury-prone risk, came agonizingly close to scoring against his former team in spectacular style.
After Jonjo Shelvey probed West Ham’s shaky defense with a ball high into the box, Diop completely missed his header.
Carroll, now 31, kept the ball in the air with impressive style as he shifted his feet from left to right before volleying over the bar from 20 yards.
Moyes needs to inject some urgency into his team before he slides into his traditional battle for relegation.
West Ham also requires a striker to put a rocket in the rear of Sebastien Haller, a player under 45 million pounds, who was back on the bench.
There were glimpses of goal for the home team, but not enough in a home game under the lights, which this club is supposed to enjoy.
Ogbonna rattled the wood with a header from a free kick from captain Mark Noble and Pablo Fornals’ upward shot bounced off the crossbar 11 minutes before half-time.
But they failed to build any momentum from that, then they ignored Wilson’s warning signs and now enter a series of games against Arsenal, Leicester, Wolves, Tottenham and Manchester City already facing each other – another tradition.
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