NEWCASTLE UNITED v WEST HAM UNITED
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
WEDNESDAY 5 JANUARY 2011
KICK-OFF: 7.45PM
FULL COVERAGE ON WHUTV I TEXT COMMENTARY, TABLES AND SCORES
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APOLOGIES FOR THE INTERRUPTIONS IN LIVE TEXT UPDATES TONIGHT - THE INTERNET CONNECTION HAS BEEN UNRELIABLE AT ST JAMES' PARK
Final score - Newcastle United 5-0 West Ham United
93 mins - Ranger gets goal-side of Upson but cannot get his shot or cross away. Upson gets back and Ranger falls on the ball and handles. Moments later, referee Dean blows for full-time and a horrible evening comes to an end. Post-match reaction will appear on whufc.com and WHUTV shortly.
91 mins - I'd like to thank each and every supporter who has stuck with us tonight. It has been a difficult and frustrating evening for everybody. Cole shoots low but drags his effort wide.
90 mins - We're going to have three minutes of added time...
89 mins - Hines has the ball in the Newcastle net, but the assistant referee had already raised his flag for offside. Parker slotted a ball through to Hines, who poked the ball through Harper's legs before finishing, but unfortunately he was beyond the last defender.
88 mins - Parker has not stopped working and he swaps passes with Hines before the youngster sees his shot blocked. The ball spins to Obinna who chooses not to pass to Sears and twists on to his right foot before his shot hits Nolan in the face.
87 mins - Lovenkrands cuts in from the right wing and works himself half a yard of space before shooting with his left foot, but the shot lacks the power to beat Green.
87 mins - Hines brings the ball forward and tries to play a one-two with Obinna, but the ball bounces too far in front of the youngster and Coloccini is able to come across and mop up the danger.
86 mins - Hines bursts past Simpson and appears to be nudged by the full-back. Hines stays on his feet and wins a corner. The ball is delivered from wide on the right and Harper helps it on before Newcastle clear.
85 mins - Ben Haim is booked for a foul on Ferguson. The referee points out that his decision was based on an accumulation of offences by the right-back.
84 mins - Cole shoots from Obinna's pass, but Harper is there again to make the save.
83 mins - Time is running out and you have to feel for the travelling fans sitting high up to my left.
80 mins - Ben Haim and Ferguson have a bit of a flare-up wide on the West Ham right. Not sure what that was all about…
79 mins - Cole brings the ball forward before it breaks to Parker and then spins back and hits Cole in the head before Newcastle clear their lines.
75 mins - West Ham win a free-kick down the left through Gabbidon when he is fouled by Tiote. Obinna's delivery is not good and when the ball is crossed back in, Hines can only shoot well off-target.
74 mins - What a miss! Nolan finds Ranger with the freedom of the city six yards from goal. He has all night to put the ball away, but somehow passes the ball well wide of the post with the goal gaping.
72 mins - Hines is in the action immediately, winning a free-kick. The ball is crossed and when it is headed back to Cole, his acrobatic overhead is superbly saved by Harper.
70 mins - Mark Noble is replaced by Hines.
69 mins - Zavon Hines is getting ready to come on. He needs to perform something of a miracle here!
66 mins - Obinna takes the free-kick but it's straight into the wall. Newcastle bring the ball forward again and Green has to dive low to his left to keep out another shot on goal.
64 mins - Behrami burrows forward and is fouled about ten yards outside the penalty area. Before the free-kick can be taken, though, Jonas is replaced by Irish teenager Shane Ferguson. Ferguson is making his Premier League debut.
63 mins - GOAL! Lovenkrands adds to the misery. Barton crosses to the near post and Lovenkrands nips in front of his marker to slam the ball in between Green and the upright. Hat-trick hero Best is replaced by Nile Ranger.
62 mins - Cole tries to free Sears with a backheel but that man Enrique is there again to poke the ball back to Harper, who clears upfield.
60 mins - GOAL! There are 42,387 fans inside St James' Park and the vast majority of them are jumping up and down as Best collects the ball in acres of space and takes a touch before shooting left-footed past Green to complete his hat-trick. There was a hint of offside about that goal as Nolan played the ball through to the striker.
56 mins - Parker and Behrami swap passes before the Swiss beats one defender and slices a left-foot shot high over the crossbar and into the stand.
55 mins - Behrami tries to release Sears, but Enrique shows strength and composure to hold off the No19 and the ball rolls out for a goal kick.
54 mins - Better football from West Ham down their right. Ben Haim and Behrami combine before Obinna sends the ball back out wide right to the Israeli. He crosses and Behrami tries an overhead kick. He misses and Coloccini heads the ball back to Harper.
52 mins - Tomkins' header is straight to Barton. He hangs up a cross for Best, but Ben Haim is there to clear up the danger at the far post.
51 mins - Obinna collects a throw from Gabbidon before winning another throw. He then collects a pass and wins a free-kick outside the Newcastle penalty area on the left. Noble curls the free-kick over and Harper is there to collect with ease.
50 mins - Sears seems to be playing in the centre behind Cole, with Behrami wide on the right flank and Obinna on the left. Noble and Parker are in the centre of midfield.
48 mins - Not a lot has happened so far in the second half. West Ham need an early goal if they are to have any hope of salvaging anythng other than pride from this game.
46 mins - West Ham have made two changes at the break, bringing on Valon Behrami and Victor Obinna for Kovac and Piquionne. Newcastle have brought on Mike Williamson for Taylor at the back
Half-time score - Newcastle United 3-0 West Ham United
46 mins - Referee Mike Dean mercifully brings the opening half to a close.
45 mins - GOAL! That's game over before half-time. Again, West Ham fail to properly clear their lines and when Tomkins clears to Nolan on the edge of the box, he calmly passes the ball back past Green from 17 yards. We're going to have one minute of stoppage-time.
41 mins - It nearly gets even worse for West Ham as Tiote dances past two defenders before losing his balance and looping his shot a few feet wide of the left-hand post.
39 mins - GOAL! Best has his second of the night as West Ham fail to deal with a low cross from Lovenkrands from a quickly-taken free-kick and when Gabbidon can only poke the ball away at the far post, Best buries his shot from eight yards. Poor defending.
38 mins - A hopeful ball down the inside-left channel for Piquionne is too strong and bounces through for Harper to collect.
36 mins - Gabbidon breaks up an attack and finds Piquionne. He spins and tries to send Sears away, but the right winger had checked his run and the ball rolls behind for a goal kick.
35 mins - Enrique sends Jonas off down the left and Tomkins has to come across and slide in to concede a corner. It is taken short to Jonas by Barton and when the winger receives the ball back he cuts inside and tests Green with a powerful low shot.
33 mins - The ball is lost inside the Newcastle half and another high cross is sent into the penalty area, but Green is there to catch high above his head at the far post.
31 mins - It's not really happening for West Ham going forward, to be honest.
28 mins - Gabbidon collects a pass from Parker and takes on Simpson before crossing left-footed, but it's just too high for Cole.
23 mins - Enrique is getting forward repeatedly down the left flank and causing Ben Haim some real problems. The Spaniard combines well with the Argentinean Jonas in front of him.
18 mins - GOAL! Leon Best scores his first league goal of the season. Piquionne loses possession deep inside the Newcastle half after West Ham break from a corner. The home side break themselves and when Lovenkrands lifts the ball into the path of Best, he slams a low left-foot shot past Green from ten yards.
17 mins - Enrique gets to the byline and beats Ben Haim before standing up a cross that Green can only help over the crossbar for a corner. Barton to take...
15 mins - It has been a fairly even start to the game so far. I shall fill in the incidents during the opening ten minutes below.
13 mins - Kovac wins the ball back and Parker forces Harper into a low save. Newcastle bring the ball clear down their left and Kovac brings down Jonas. He is booked for the challenge.
11 mins - We had a bit of drama before kick-off as Danny Gabbidon had a shirt with '5' and 'TOMKINS' on the back of it! He had to rush off and get changed quickly.
7 mins - Freddie Piquionne tries to get in behind the Newcastle defence, but he is caught offside.
4 mins - Joey Barton crosses from the right and Best gets in front of his marker, but he can only head the ball well wide of the near post.
7.45pm - The two teams
7.55pm - Apologies but we've had some technical issues. The game is about eight minutes old and you have missed next to nothing, other than a header from Leon Best that flew wide of the near post.
7.40pm - I must confess I haven't managed to spot whether or not the manager is wearing his now famous 'lucky' claret and blue scarf. I imagine he will be sporting the latest must-have fashion accessory for every West Ham fan come kick-off!
7.35pm - A pair of six-foot tall magpies have replaced Mr Gold and Grant at the mouth of the tunnel. The two Newcastle mascots are waving their wings around, dancing and generally having a good time. That's nice, isn't it. Still plenty of empty grey seats all around the stadium...
7.26pm - Carlton Cole scored a spectacular goal on West Ham's last visit to St James' Park in January 2009. For those with good memories, the striker lashed an unstoppable left-foot volley into the top corner to put the Hammers 2-1 up. The game would finish in a 2-2 draw.
7.25pm - Chairman David Gold has made the long trip north for tonight's match. Mr Gold is currently deep in discussion with manager Avram Grant at the mouth of the tunnel. In front of them, Kevin Keen, Paul Groves and Wally Downes are overseeing a game of five-a-side keep-ball. In the penalty area, Robert Green is practising his kicking with goalkeeper coach David Coles and Ruud Boffin.
7.20pm - The two teams are warming up on the pitch in front of me, but there are not many supporters in the stands watching them. It is a cold evening, so I don't doubt that the Toon Army are leaving it until the last moment to leave the relative warmth of the concourses to take their seats. St James' Park really is a hugely impressive stadium, I must admit.
7.15pm - West Ham are seeking their first victory at Newcastle since Hallowe'en 1998, when Ian Wright scored twice and Trevor Sinclair once in a 3-0 victory. Since then, Newcastle have not been beaten in the intervening eight meetings.
7pm - Newcastle have been hit by the absence of Shola Ameobi, who scored their match-winner at Wigan Athletic on Sunday. His absence means that Newcastle's starting XI have scored just 13 Barclays Premier League goals between them this season, with Kevin Nolan contributing eight of them. The strikers, Leon Best and Peter Lovenkrands, have scored once between them. Best is making his first league start and only his second league appearance of the season, having appeared as a late substitute at Wigan.
Good evening and welcome to a chilly St James' Park for what promises to be an exciting Barclays Premier League fixture between Newcastle United and West Ham United.
The Hammers will seek to extend their unbeaten run to five matches and, in the process, climb back out of the relegation zone. Should Everton and Aston Villa lose, a victory could lift West Ham as 13th in the table.
West Ham will be eager to gain revenge for the 2-1 defeat they suffered in the reverse fixture at the Boleyn Ground on 23 October 2010. Should they do so, Avram Grant's side will win back-to-back away matches for the first time since winning at Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough in December 2007.
Team-news wise, Grant has made just one change to the starting XI that beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 at home on New Year's Day. Junior Stanislas suffered a knock in that defeat and has been ruled out tonight, with Mark Noble returning to the lineup for the first time since the 3-0 defeat at Liverpool on 20 November 2010.
Newcastle will be without their October match-winner and leading goal-scorer, England striker Andy Carroll, who is sidelined with a thigh injury. That news will be a major blow to Magpies manager and former Hammers boss Alan Pardew, who spent nearly three years in charge in east London between October 2003 and December 2006.
Newcastle United: Harper, Simpson, S.Taylor (Williamson 46), Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Barton, Tiote, Nolan, Jonas Gutierrez (Ferguson 66), Lovenkrands, Best (Ranger 64)
Subs not used: Krul, Perch, Guthrie, Routledge
West Ham United: Green, Ben Haim, Tomkins, Upson, Gabbidon, Sears, Kovac (Behrami 46), Parker, Noble (Hines 70), Piquionne (Obinna 46), Cole
Subs not used: Boffin, Reid, Spector, Barrera