‘Worst enemies’ - Former Everton star delivers damning verdict of West Ham United after Newcastle defeat

The Hammers crashed to a heavy home defeat against the Magpies on Wednesday night.
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Former Everton stalwart Leon Osman has hit out at West Ham United’s defending after the Hammers suffered a 5-1 hammering at the hands of Champions League contenders Newcastle United.

David Moyes’ side went into the game looking to Sunday’s hard-earned home win against fellowing Premier League strugglers Southampton - but were shown up by their ruthless visitors, who punished several dismal mishaps in the home defence during an error-laden display.

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An unmarked Callum Wilson continued his fine record against West Ham when he was left unmarked eight yards from goal and opened the scoring with a neat header on eight minutes. Joelinton doubled the Magpies lead on the quarter-hour mark when he beat the offside trap before rounding Lukasz Fabianski and tapping into an empty net.

Kurt Zouma briefly restored the arrears five minutes before half-time but disaster struck just after the interval when Jacob Murphy punished the dallying Nayef Aguerd before giving Wilson his second goal of the night. Substitute Alexander Isak made the most of an error in judgement from Hammers keeper Fabianski to add a fourth goal with eight minutes remaining and Joelinton rounded off a ruthless display from Eddie Howe’s men and rubbed salt into the wounds when he grabbed a fifth in injury-time.

Osman described West Ham as ‘their own worst enemies’ for allowing an ‘absolutely fantastic’ Newcastle side to have something of an easy ride at a bewildered London Stadium. Speaking on Match of the Day after being asked how Moyes would react, Osman said: “(His reaction will be) not a great one to be honest, it’s not a great place to be at the end of a tirade after a performance like that defensively.

“I did think his team tried to give their all but they were their own worst enemies. You can’t give away goals like this when you’re at the bottom. Every goal it seemed you could trace back to a West Ham defensive lapse or mistake. Newcastle were absolutely fantastic - but they were certainly helped in scoring these goals. If you’re at the bottom, you can’t give a team like Newcastle that many opportunities because they will punish you.”

West Ham will hope to kickstart a push away from the relegation zone on Saturday afternoon when they visit London rivals Fulham.