Newcastle, March 3: Newcastle United on Sunday leapfrogged Manchester United and consolidated their top-four position in the Premier League standings, with a well-deserved 2-0 home win over the visiting United side.
Joe Willock and Callum Wilson scored for the home side which lifted them into third place in the league.
Both teams have 50 points from 27 games but Newcastle have the better goal difference in the race to finish in the top four and qualify for the Champions League next season.
Eddie Howe’s side dominated play at St James’ Park, narrowly missing the target from several excellent chances. Their persistence was rewarded in the 65th minute when Allan Saint-Maximin’s headed cross found Willock for a close-range header.
Wilson put the game to bed in the 88th minute, heading in a cross from Kieran Trippier.
The victory was some sort of revenge for Newcastle losing 2-0 to Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United in the League Cup final in February.
West Ham beat Southampton 1-0, move out of drop zone
West Ham United jumped out of the relegation zone on Sunday after registering a crucial 1-0 win against fellow bottom-dwellers Southampton in their Premier League match.
Nayef Aguerd scored from a set piece in the first half to give the London side breathing room in the relegation battle.
The win took West Ham to 14th (27 points) in the league standings.
The teams were 19th and 20th in the table before kickoff. Southampton remained rooted to the bottom, three points from the safety zone.
West Ham took the lead in the 25th minute when Aguerd rose highest to head home a free kick but they had an agonising wait as VAR took several minutes to check if the Moroccan defender was onside before awarding the goal.
The away side had more possession but the goal lit a spark in West Ham and Jarrod Bowen nearly doubled the lead on a counter-attack before halftime when his shot beat the keeper but came off the crossbar.
At the other end, Lukasz Fabianski was tested several times by Southampton but the Polish goalkeeper was up to the task, making calm saves to keep a clean sheet, although Nigerian forward Paul Onuachu’s late header struck his crossbar.
Southampton lacked creativity in attack, however, as West Ham — who have a game in hand over their relegation rivals — moved up five places and provided welcome relief for their manager David Moyes.
(ToI With inputs from Reuters)
