Impressive Hammers plunder points at Newcastle

Tomas Soucek and Aaron Wan-Bissaka combined to burst Newcastle's bubble as West Ham handed under-pressure boss Julen Lopetegui breathing space with a priceless Premier League away win.

Soucek headed the Hammers into a first-half lead in front of a largely stunned crowd of 52,094 at St James' Park before Wan-Bissaka's first goal for the club ended the Magpies' three-game winning run in all competitions with a 2-0 defeat which prevented them from climbing into the top six.

Eddie Howe's men were culpable for both goals, but also guilty of not using the wealth of possession they enjoyed effectively enough on a night when chances went begging.

By contrast, the visitors were lethal on the break and produced the most fluent passages of play to leave Tyneside more than satisfied with a job well done.

The visitors took a 10th-minute lead when Soucek was left criminally unmarked by Lloyd Kelly, deputising for the suspended Dan Burn, to power home a header from Emerson Palmieri's corner.

Joe Willock whipped a shot just wide of Lukasz Fabianski's left post but, with Paris St Germain loanee Carlos Soler linking well with Lucas Paqueta in the centre of midfield and Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville taking a direct approach from the flanks, the Hammers were a constant threat on the counter.

Sean Longstaff headed straight at Fabianski from Anthony Gordon's floated 29th-minute cross and Lewis Hall sent a skidding shot just past the upright as the hosts responded.

Fabianski blocked Gordon's 36th-minute shot from point-blank range after defender Jean-Clair Todibo had failed to deal adequately with Longstaff's low cross, and Alexander Isak, who had earlier seen a good finish ruled out for offside, blasted off target after controlling Bruno