Julen Lopetegui eased the pressure on himself by leading West Ham United to an excellent 2-0 win over Newcastle United on Monday.
The Hammers boss adopted a different formation and brought Carlos Soler into the team for the away encounter.
His tactics worked this time as West Ham ran out 2-0 winners at St James’ Park, with the result leaving them just three points off the top 10.
Newcastle had the better start but fell behind when Tomas Soucek nodded home the opener in the 10th minute.
The Magpies squandered two brilliant scoring chances, and the Irons punished them by netting another early in the second-half.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka produced an outstanding finish to score his first goal for West Ham, ensuring a comfortable victory for the visitors.
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher was left intrigued by the 27-year-old’s run from defence before his goal, saying full-backs usually don’t make such runs.
Carragher said: “It is just a really interesting run that you don’t see full-backs make. Sometimes you might see them make a run if they are in this position, maybe for a one two with Jarrod Bowen, okay it is not on, I have seen this space I will go. But Wan-Bissaka makes this run from so deep”.
🗣️ "It's just a really interesting run that you don't see full-backs make"
A closer look at Aaron Wan Bissaka's goal vs Newcastle 🕷️ pic.twitter.com/K8tVUPio7T
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 25, 2024
West Ham were in desperate need of a big result under Lopetegui following the loss at Nottingham Forest and home draw against Everton.
Their chances didn’t look great as Newcastle were coming off a run of three consecutive victories in all competitions.
However, the Hammers defied expectations as they defended superbly and struck two brilliant goals to come away with three important points.
The victory will ease the pressure on Lopetegui, who has endured a difficult start in the Premier League after replacing David Moyes in the summer.
West Ham will host Arsenal next weekend in another tough test, but if they can carry on their momentum from this game then they could earn a point against the Gunners.
