- Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham stunned Newcastle to win 2-0 at St James’ Park
- Eddie Howe’s side had a chance to move closer to the Champions League places
- Liverpool correspondent LEWIS STEELE tells all in bombshell chat with Mo Salah – LISTEN to It’s All Kicking Off NOW! New episodes every Monday and Thursday
Eddie Howe said his Newcastle side are ‘kidding themselves’ after they squandered the chance to move within a point of Arsenal and Chelsea with a shock defeat to West Ham.
Newcastle were left stunned after Tomas Soucek and Aaron Wan-Bissaka struck at St James’ Park to ease the pressure on Hammers boss Julen Lopetegui.
A win for Howe’s side would have put them within touching distance of the Champions League places and just two points behind Manchester City.
“That’s a huge frustration,” Howe said. ‘The competition is so tight that after a few wins the whole picture looks different, so we kick ourselves tonight because we knew the chance we had at home, which could potentially be a great moment for us in our season.
‘We didn’t seize the games and these moments as well as we could have done. We have to learn from that and come back stronger.’
Howe felt his side should have been awarded a penalty in the second half when Callum Wilson went down under Konstantinos Mavropanos’ challenge, but the referee and VAR waved away the protests.
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle side failed to win their fourth game in a row after Monday evening’s defeat
West Ham’s 2-0 win will provide much-needed relief for under-fire boss Julen Lopetegui
Tomas Soucek and Aaron Wan-Bissaka scored for the visitors to move them up to 14th place
“I only watched it live once and I thought it was a really good shout for a penalty,” Howe added. “Maybe someone will tell me differently, but I thought this was a really good opportunity.”
West Ham’s victory eases mounting pressure on Lopetegui, who laughed off speculation before the international break that he had two games to save his job, starting at St James’ Park, before the visit of Arsenal this weekend.
“It was good that the players showed that they can fight for everything we can have at this level,” Lopetegui said. “You can win or lose, but I think we have to believe in ourselves and think that we can play these kinds of games.”
Lopetegui will serve a touchline ban for Saturday’s match against Arsenal after receiving his third yellow card of the season for protesting at the referees at St James’ Park.
West Ham striker Jarrod Bowen insisted the players were still fighting for their manager. “I think we have to push for European football every year,” he said.
“We have a really good manager and great players who feel they can achieve things and haven’t quite reached those levels yet, but that’s not because they don’t want to try and that’s driven by the manager.”