West Ham came out the winners of this hard-fought contest on Saturday afternoon, ending Newcastle’s impressive five win run.

A match billed as likely to provide thrills and spills started slowly with a largely forgettable first half. The two sides both had good periods of possession but tended to cancel each other out when it came to an end product.

The game opened up in the second 45 minutes, with the Hammers getting on top as midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate asserted himself ever-more decisively on the game.

And in the 56th minute, it was Kouyate’s shot which went through a crowd of players falling nicely for the advancing left back Aaron Creswell to come round the back and prod home. It was the young defender’s first goal for West Ham but well deserved as he had been pressing forward all game, already having fired a couple of shots wide.

The main Newcastle threat came from Ayoze Perez who had a couple of attempts thwarted by home stopper Adrian.

Life was made easier for the Hammers when Newcastle’s Moussa Sissoko was sent off after first being booked for kicking the ball away, then putting in a rash challenge on Andy Carroll — all inside 46 seconds.

The introduction of Mauro Zarate on the 69th minute opened the game up with the Argentinian immediately creating chances for himself and others. 

A fierce shot from Zarate was turned aside by Newcastle keeper Rob Elliot, then the little Argentinian laid on gilt-edged chances for Cresswell and Stewart Downing with slide rule passes inside the full back. Both were wasted.

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce was pleased with what he described as “a massive victory.”

The Irons manager paid tribute to defender James Tomkins, who had a faultless game after the theatricals of last week at Everton.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew lamented his side’s failure to create enough chances. 

He had no gripes though about the loss, describing the game as hard-fought with some tough battles going on between players all over the pitch.