West Ham 2-2 Newcastle: Irons strike late after Isak brace & Bruno's lucky escape

After three-straight Premier League wins, five clean sheets in our last six in all competitions and Wednesday's 4-1 demolition of PSG, we had to settle for a point in an up and down affair at the London Stadium.

Alexander Isak scored a second half brace following Tomas Soucek's early opener in a flat first 45 from a Newcastle perspective, but a 89th minute strike from super sub Mohammed Kudus rescued a draw for the home side.

Callum Wilson returned to the bench after missing our last three, Joelinton missed out entirely and Anthony Gordon sat out through suspension, meaning Alexander Isak kept his place up top, Sandro Tonali started again in midfield and Elliot Anderson came in down our left.

We started with plenty of the ball, but West Ham scored with their first meaningful attack just eight minutes in. A dinked ball down the left saw Emerson drift in behind Lascelles all too easily, Pope came out into no man's land and got nowhere near the Italian, who went beyond the keeper and squared to Soucek for a tap-in. Schar was on the line but it was an easy finish for the Czech and a really poor goal to concede out of nowhere.

Bruno Guimaraes was booked for a cynical foul on Emerson and should've received a second yellow a matter of seconds later. It was a blatant trip on Ward-Prowse that stopped their counter after a poor ball from Tonali, yet he somehow escaped a red. A huge let off that would've left us with a mountain to climb less than 20 minutes in.

We hadn't hit our stride in the final third and were missing Gordon's pace, intensity and directness, with Burn, Tonali and Anderson struggling to get anything going down our left. The lack of cohesion was summed up just before the half hour mark, when Tonali swung in a cross that was nowhere near anyone in a black and white shirt. We did go much closer moments after, as Miggy let fly with an effort reminiscent of his goal against Burnley, only this shot went the wrong side of Areola's far post.

Lucas Paqueta then hacked down Jamaal Lascelles, who did well to step out of defence and win a free-kick Kieran Trippier would whip into the box. It was a good delivery a Dan Burn, whose glancing went just wide once again. We looked more lively in patches when Isak drifted over the to the left, allowing him to get into a game he'd previously been on the fringes of, but so many of our attacks were limp and quickly broke down against West Ham's low block. Our play was a little too predictable and slow, giving Howe plenty to ponder heading into the break.

Our biggest chance of the game came 55 minutes in, as Isak's lobbed a cross into Burn at the back post. It was a good header from the big man, but Areola got down low to palm it away. We were finally beginning to build some sustained pressure and it paid dividends, as Trippier's delivery was headed into Isak's path by Aguerd. The Swede made no mistake and finished emphatically, handing us an equaliser with more than half an hour remaining.

A big momentum swing and it showed a few minutes later, as 1-1 became 2-1 Newcastle! This time, a first time cross from Trippier found its way through to Isak, who poked home at the back post to turn a game that threatened to get away from us on its head.

Just a few minutes after Trippier's fifth assist of the season, he almost got a sixth as his open play cross to Anderson was miscued by our local lad. What a response to that first half display, as we suddenly looked far more positive, intense, assured and aggressive in everything we did on the ball.

With 20 minutes to go, Isak came within a whisker of his first Newcastle hat-trick, latching onto a smart through ball and rounding Areola. His effort from a tight angle was a decent one, but clipped the outside of the post before rebounding off Aguerd for a corner. So close to 3-1 and a stunning second half hat-trick for our record signing. Looking back, that felt like the defining moment.

We conceded a clumsy free kick with 78 minutes on the clock and Longstaff went into the book, giving Ward-Prowse a chance to equalise. He's usually lethal from these positions, but his effort was tame by his usually high standards and flew safely over Pope's goal.

West Ham had made a double change at this point, bringing on Mohammed Kudus and Said Benrahma. We responded with a substitution of our own, as Jacob Murphy replaced Miggy with 10 left to play, followed by Callum Wilson coming on for Isak a few minutes later, helping us run the clock down as West Ham piled on the pressure without actually testing Pope.

However, with 89 minutes on the clock, Kudus made an instant impact with a superb equaliser for the Hammers. It was a brilliant finish from the edge of the box, but we didn't do enough to close down the Ghanaian, with Tonali too slow to get out. He should've done better, but on the bright side looked much better in the second half in the right side of our midfield three.

Six minutes were added on and the London Stadium was suddenly rocking. Bowen almost made it 3-2 in added on time, as his effort across the box just evaded the far corner and Edson Alvarez; who so nearly tapped in at the back post. We'd gone from looking in control at 2-1 to holding on and made another late change, as Matt Targett replaced a tiring Anderson.

A frantic end to a pretty even game and it ended all square, seeing Eddie's Mags go into the international break with a decent point. It could've been more had we held on at the end, but we were lucky to keep Bruno on the pitch at 1-0 down and keep the momentum going with a solid result at the end of a hectic run of fixtures.

STARTING XI: Pope – Trippier, Schar, Lascelles, Burn – Longstaff, Guimaraes, Tonali – Almiron, Isak, Anderson.

SUBS: Dubravka, Dummett, Wilson, Ritchie, Targett, Manquillo, Hall, Livramento, Murphy.

Next up, Crystal Palace away in two weeks time, followed by Borussia Dortmund at St James' Park in the UEFA Champions League.

HWTL.