Newcastle boss Steve Bruce warns ’35 points is not enough’ and insists the Magpies are still focused on survival despite massive West Ham victory
- Newcastle pulled-off a shock to beat 10-man West Ham 3-2 on Saturday
- It’s a huge three points, pulling the Magpies eight points above the drop
- Steve Bruce isn’t satisfied they’re safe, stating he’s still pushing for more
West Ham hit the self-destruct button and Newcastle tried their best to not make it a routine win over 10 men. But the outcome was huge for the North East side.
If Newcastle’s fans want their club to be bought and Mike Ashley wants his £300million valuation met by potential buyers, they need to be in the Premier League.
West Ham suffered from five minutes of madness which they may look back upon if they miss out on Champions League qualification.
Newcastle bagged a huge victory over West Ham to pull the Magpies further from the drop
Steve Bruce will be relieves to have a buffer over the bottom-three but it’s satisfied just yet
Craig Dawson was dismissed for two silly challenges, Issa Diop comically kicked the ball into his own goal and goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski dropped a catch for Joelinton to make it 2-0.
In the second half, Bruce decided to try to defend the lead. It backfired, with West Ham making it 2-2 through Diop and a Jesse Lingard penalty.
But Joe Willock saved his manager’s blushes, scoring a minute after coming on to follow his recent late equaliser against Tottenham.
Bruce could do with his side producing more of the football which was on show in the first half. The way Newcastle frustrated West Ham while breaking forward in numbers was impressive and again, Allan Saint-Maximin was their best player.
The Hammers imploded, going down to 10-men and putting their shock top-four tilt in doubt
Bruce is concerned Newcastle’s 35 points won’t be enough for them to be safe this season
But he insists Newcastle are still focused on a fight for survival, saying: ‘I’ve always said it’s the accumulation of points, and 35, in my opinion, is not enough. So you won’t get me jumping and hollering at the moment.’
Moyes said: ‘We made a couple of horrendous mistakes, which has not been like us, but we showed great character after half-time. The players put themselves in a position to be brave with the ball and how we decided to play.
‘We know we’ve lost a game we’d like to have won but we’ve got some big games to come and want to take them full on and give the same effort and commitment.’