West Ham started the month of March on a winning note as they beat Rafa Benitez’s Newcastle 2-0 at the London Stadium. The victory, the Hammers’ seventh on in the league at home this season, saw them leapfrog Everton in the table.

It was only the fifth time this season that Manuel Pellegrini’s side had kept a clean sheet in the Premier League- the previous four being at home to Chelsea and Arsenal, and away at Newcastle and Fulham.

There were five changes to the squad that had lost to Man City- Aaron Cresswell coming in at left back, Mark Noble, Robert Snodgrass and Manuel Lanzini in midfield and Javier Hernandez taking Andy Carroll’s place upfront.

As it’s been in recent weeks, Pedro Obiang and Marko Arnautovic were both introduced from the bench. Cresswell’s first half injury forced Pellegrini to make a substitution earlier than he would’ve normally liked, and also meant that Manuel Lanzini played the entire 90 minutes in his first start for the club in nearly 10 months. [Read more…]

West Ham beat Newcastle 2-0 over the weekend, and the performance of some Hammers players was good enough to get them a mention in several pundits’ Team of the Week. Fresh from being named Young Player of the Year at the London Football Awards, young Declan Rice was particularly impressive- the 20 year old was Man of the Match at the game. Perhaps apt that Mark Noble and he were the scorers on a evening that also saw the opening ceremony of the Billy Bonds Stand.

Alan Shearer’s official Premier League Team of the Week

Rice finds a mention here alongside Crystal Palace’s Zaha, Man Utd’s Andreas Pereira and Wolves’ Jota in Shearer’s Team of the Week.

Sky Sports TOTW for Round 29

Phil Babb and Carlos Carvalhal were asked to name their respective TOTW’s, and Rice was named in both. Former Swansea boss Carvalhal’s team also has a spot for Ryan Fredericks at right back.

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