Newcastle thrash woeful West Ham to continue Champions League charge

Newcastle continued their quest for Champions League qualification with a 5-1 win at West Ham, whose relegation worries intensify.

With Manchester United playing against Brentford, Eddie Howe’s side knew a win would likely be needed if they were to keep hold of third spot in the Premier League and they started in impressive style – taking the lead with just six minutes gone.

West Ham failed to clear a corner and Allan Saint-Maximin crossed the ball straight onto the head of Callum Wilson, who slammed the ball into the net.

With less than quarter of an hour gone, Newcastle doubled the lead.

Joelinton beat the offside trap (with VAR confirming he was in the clear) before taking the ball round Lukasz Fabianski and slotting into an empty net.

Despite having little defensive work to do in the first half, Sven Botman had to be alert to get in the way of Michail Antonio just as the West Ham striker was about to pull the trigger in an attempt to halve the deficit.

With half-time approaching, the home side did manage to pull one back as Nick Pope failed to connect with an attempted punch on Jarrod Bowen’s corner and Kurt Zouma was able to head into an empty net.

That speck of hope will have given Moyes the chance to reset his team at the break, so it was no surprise to see him furious on the touch line after watching his team concede again in the first minute of the second half.

• Premier League table
• Premier League fixtures / results
• Premier League top scorers

Nayef Aguerd’s poor touch from Fabianski’s throw was pounced upon by Jacob Murphy, who squared the ball to Wilson to tap home his second of the night.

Fabianski was involved once again as Newcastle scored their fourth, with the West Ham ‘keeper racing out of his box to clear a long ball.

However, he miscontrolled the ball straight into the path of Alexander Isak, who lobbed the ball over Fabianski and into the net.

The rout was completed in the final minute in front of an almost empty London Stadium as Joelinton beat two defenders before smashing the ball in at the far post.

The win leaves Newcastle three points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham with a game in hand, while West Ham are one of four teams on 27 points, with the last of those, Bournemouth, in the relegation zone on goal difference.