Following West Ham’s delightful victory over Newcastle United last night, we took the opportunity to take a closer look at the individual performances on the evening by giving each Hammer a rating out of ten.
Goalkeeper: Darren Randolph – 8
What you have to remember about Randolph is the amount of criticism he received over the summer, with regards to shoddy performances by him in between the sticks. He has proved his doubters wrong, and made a couple of fine saves to deny Daryl Janmaat. That’s now two consecutive clean sheets for the Irishman.
Defender: James Tomkins – 7
Tomkins started off the game at right-back, but moved to the centre to form a partnership alongside Reid when Ogbonna went off with an injury. The Irons have not conceded a goal in the league thus far this season when Tomkins has started a game.
Defender: Winston Reid – 6
The Kiwi didn’t have a bad game, but he didn’t have a great game either. That was predominantly down to him not being troubled too much by the Magpies.
Defender: Angelo Ogbonna – 6
Ogbonna was absolutely smashing at the back, clearing anything that came into the West Ham penalty area. Unfortunately for him however, injury forced him off meaning he only played for 45 minutes.
Defender: Aaron Cresswell – 7
Having been touted for an England call-up last season, Cresswell is getting back to his best. With another clean sheet under his belt, he also went close to scoring with a delicious free-kick.
Midfielder: Mark Noble – 7
The Canning Town captain showed exactly why he deserves the armband, with his leadership and vocal qualities on the pitch. He also set-up Payet for the opening goal of the game, with a cool pass.
Midfielder: Cheikhou Kouyate – 6
Perhaps Kouyate’s weakest game of the season so far, but don’t take that as a negative statement, it just shows how good he has been this campaign. An average showing in defensive midfield.
Midfielder: Manuel Lanzini – 6
The Argentine did not see much of the ball, which was especially difficult as West Ham only had 39% of the possession. He did look lively though when on the ball.
Midfielder: Dimitri Payet – 9
Payet is genuinely looking like a world class player at the Boleyn Ground. Two goals for him, and now three goals for West Ham in total. The first was a sensational curling effort, whilst the second was the follow-up to the Moses miss.
Midfielder: Victor Moses – 8
What a fantastic debut for the Nigerian winger. He looked like the final piece of Slaven Bilic’s jigsaw puzzle. Bursting onto the scene, his quick runs and turn of pace played a big part, and he was unlucky not to score having hit the crossbar in the second half.
Striker: Diafra Sakho – 6
Off the field incidents have meant that the Senegalese forward has been off to a slow start, but a cheeky piece of footwork was a key ingredient for Payet’s first goal.
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