Newcastle 4-3 West Ham: Toon rise from the dead in St James' Park thriller!

One of the most crazy games of Premier League football I've ever witnessed, as Newcastle came from on the canvas and 3-1 down to beat European rivals West Ham 4-3 at St James' Park.

Two penalties won from Anthony Gordon, two converted from Alexander Isak and a late brace from Harvey Barnes all featured as our six-pointer with the Hammers ended up a seven-goal thriller.

At 3-1 down with 13 minutes to go, it was looking so, so bleak and like our hopes of Europe had all but drifted away. The players' confidence looked shot, we'd suffered three more injuries - Lascelles, Livramento and Almiron were all forced off - and the atmosphere was naturally flat. But we showed bags of fight, character and quality as Barnes' brilliant double pulled off a heroic win, sending us up to eighth and just one point behind the Hammers with a game in hand.

Believe it or not, it was the first time in any competition this season where we've come from behind to win - and boy did we need it. It was another costly day on the injury front and we lost Gordon to two yellow cards in stoppage time, meaning he'll now miss Tuesday's clash with former club Everton, but this feels like a moment that could reignite a season that was in serious danger of fizzling out.

Eddie Howe made one change as Livramento replaced the injured Botman. The first half got off to a flier as Isak converted from the spot, but it was ultimately so frustrating, featuring yet another costly injury and ending with a farcical piece of refereeing.

After Gordon won the spot kick and Isak converted, Lascelles was forced off with a knee injury after a coming together with Antonio left him unable to continue. It was a long stoppage and halted the early momentum we’d created, seeing Krafth come on, Burn switch to centre-back and Livramento to the left.

West Ham’s equaliser was soft and all too easy, as a chipped ball in behind beat Burn for pace before Antonio slotted past Dubravka. Krafth was playing him onside, but Burn never looked comfortable after moving into the middle and we went back to a side looking low on confidence, with too many misplaced passes and a lack of tackles in midfield.

It was such a stop-start opening 45, thanks to VAR, Lascelles’ injury and some amateur dramatics from Paqueta, but we did have our moments. Isak looked sharp and smashed a half volley over before Gordon headed a big chance wide and Bruno struck the bar with a lovely effort from just outside the box.

However, it was the Hammers who went ahead during 10 minutes of added time thanks to some shocking refereeing from Rob Jones. Schar went down with a head injury after fouling Kudus, but the play wasn’t stopped and the Ghanaian scored seconds later. “You’re not fit to referee” rang around St James’ Park and we went into the break 2-1 down with it all to do.

It felt like a huge 45 minutes in our season and we made a disastrous start. A Newcastle corner at the Gallowgate quickly turned into a West Ham counter, where Kudus slid in Bowen who did the rest. 3-1 down and a mountain to climb; not just with 40 minutes to go but in our season.

It then got worse, as Livramento was forced off after going down in pain from an inocuous challenge on Paqueta. That sprung Howe into a triple change, as Tino, Krafth and Willock were replaced by Hall, Anderson and Almiron. This saw Murphy move to right-back and Almiron operate just ahead of him, yet the Paraguayan quickly came off with a problem of his own after feeling something in his knee, allowing Barnes to come on.

In between all of that, we had chances to make it 3-2. Cut backs to Isak and Longstaff presented huge opportunities for both inside the six-yard box, but both were miscued well wide before Gordon - who was now playing on the right - delivered a brilliant ball to the back post that was almost tapped home by Barnes.

The start of a memorable comeback came on the 77th minute, as Gordon won another penalty. He was brought down by former loan target Kalvin Phillips, VAR intervened and Isak made no mistake at the Gallowgate to make it 3-2.

St James' Park sensed blood and the players jumped all over a West Ham side who were suddenly hanging on. Isak was brilliant all afternoon and played a key role in our equaliser, dropping short, turning and slipping Barnes in behind. The winger made a great run in field and slotted calmly past Fabianski - who was brought on at the break - to bring us level!

Just as we were getting our breath back and praying for a late winner as stoppage time was signalled, Barnes stepped up with a moment of sheer magic. After latching onto Gordon's flick and cutting inside, he curled a shot into the far corner and sent St James' wild.

https://twitter.com/footballontnt/status/1774081846889816334

Sadly, Gordon received a second yellow in added time for kicking the ball away and adds to the growing list of players unavailable for Everton, but that all feels immaterial right now.

What a comeback, what a game and what a huge result for Howe, who jumped down the touchline to celebrate in amongst all of the chaos after Barnes' winning strike nestled into the corner in stoppage time.

Barnes' two moments of class won us the game, but a special mention must go to Lewis Hall. He was positive on the ball, strong in the tackle, made some great forward runs and dealt with West Ham's Mohammed Kudus so well after most in black and white couldn't get close to their star man on the day. Elliot Anderson was also superb, with his quick-thinking, aggression and footwork causing havoc late on.

Only at Easter could Newcastle rise from the dead like that. 

Next up, a much-needed lie down and Everton on Tuesday night!

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