West Ham took the lead twice, but had to settle for a point at St.James’ Park against Newcastle. The Hammers probably edged Steve Bruce’s side on the day and looked good for all three points, a draw wasn’t a terrible result either, especially given Newcastle’s form at home and West Ham’s abysmal run on the road.

Here are our talking points from the game.

Goals again for Tomas Soucek and Michail Antonio: They got on the scoresheet in the 3-2 win over Chelsea, and Tomas Soucek and Michail Antonio were again on target for the Hammers here. Antonio was virtually gifted his by Jamaal Lascelles, while Soucek finished well from close range after Declan Rice’s initial effort had rebounded off the bar.

The Hammers have struggled for consistency in the goal scoring department, and it’s rare to see players find the back of the net in consecutive league games.

Wait for two consecutive league wins continues: While goals have been tough to come by, West Ham have also never won two consecutive league games in David Moyes’ second stint. For a while, this looked like they might break the duck, but it eventually ended up being another case of points lost from winning positions (apparently West Ham have squandered 24 such points this season according to the commentators!)

Fornals error proves costly: It was an error from Jamaal Lascelles that gifted West Ham their opener, but it was a similar gift from Pablo Fornals that lead to the Newcastle equaliser. The Spaniard made a mess of the offside trap as he stood in the background- a costly, costly error. Fornals did some good things in this game- he had a crucial hand in the opener, but this was a disappointing mistake. [Read more…]