Ghana’s Kudus saves the Hammers from Newcastle after Isak’s cameo

A big-name signing from Ajax, Ghana’s midfielder Mohammed Kudus has so far started for West Ham only once, against Serbian minors TSC in the Europa League and scored. In the Premier League, he’s been used as a last-minute sub, but maybe he will get a proper chance in the upcoming matches. Today, he saved his team from a defeat with a great goal from 16 meters in the last minute of the match. West Ham was on the brink of a defeat after Alexander Isak’s brace after only 5 minutes turned the game over, but it was the Ghana international who saved the day in London: West Ham – Newcastle 2-2. Unlike PSG’s Luis Enrique, David Moyes was clever enough not to field a 4-2-4 formation and thus gave Magpies a lot of trouble in the first half, in which the Hammers even scored from their only shot on target. But Newcastle showed class in the second and used the individual qualities of the former Sociedad striker to turn the game over until Kudus intervened and saved the day.

The first half was not an interesting one. The guests had 70 per cent possession, three shots, but none on target. Newcastle were dominating possession, playing through midfield, played some great football, but that final end product was not good. They had no creativity as West Ham got the midfield battle, and Paqueta was full of energy. It sounds surprising, but Newcastle had trouble stopping Emerson, as two players earned yellow cards challenging the Italian. West Ham scored their only goal from a single shot. Paqueta and Emerson combined beautifully to create West Ham's opener, with the left-back's run picked out brilliantly, and his touch pasted Pope, while Soucek was there alone to get the ball and score at the empty net:1-0.

The Hammers had a great chance at the start of the second half when Alvarez’s header went just near the right post in the 50th minute. And then a total turnout. First, Areola saved Isak’s shot in the 56th minute but then failed to do so twice in a row, as the Swede scored a brace in just five minutes. The first one was on the edge of the offside (VAR checked it), and the second one was a tap-in from two meters away. Isak could have made his game perfect with a hat-trick in the 73rd minute, as he was all alone in front of Areola after a great pass from Burn. Instead of choosing his side, he decided to dribble the keeper, got too far left and then hit the bar instead of an empty net. And that mistake proved to be a costly one since instead of 1-3, the Magpies allowed Kudus to equalize in the 89th minute after a great shot from the edge of the box for the final 2-2.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 8

Saturday

Luton - Tottenham 0-1 (0-0)

/Van de Ven 52/

Fulham - Sheff. Utd 3-1 (0-0)

/Decordova-Reid 53, Foderingham 76 og, Willian 90+2 - Robinson 68 og/

Everton - Bournemouth 3-0 (2-0)

/Garner 8, Harrison 37, Doucoure 60/

Burnley - Chelsea 1-4 (1-1)

/Odobert 15 - Al-Dakhil 42, Palmer 50 pen, Sterling 65, Jackson 74/

Man Utd - Brentford 2-1 (0-1)

/McTominay 90+3, 90+7 - Jensen 26/

Crystal Palace - Nott. Forest 0-0

Sunday

Brighton - Liverpool 1-2 (1-2)

/Aldingra 20 - Salah 40, 45+1 pen/

West Ham - Newcastle 2-2 (1-0)

/Soucek 8, Kudus 89- Isak 57, 62/

Wolverhampton - Aston Villa 1-1 (0-0)

/Hwang 53 - Torres 55/

18.30: (2.95) Arsenal (3.50) Man.City (2.55)

***odds are subject to change***