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Newcastle United drew with West Ham in a thrilling Premier League contest on Sunday.

Only days after beating PSG 4-1 in the Champions League, Eddie Howe’s side started slowly in east London and fell behind after Tomas Soucek’s opening goal eight minutes in.

Newcastle laboured for much of the first-half before improving in the second, with Alexander Isak scoring a quick-fire brace to put them into the lead. Mohammed Kudus, however, bagged late on to deny the Magpies all three points.

At times in that opening forty-five minutes, Howe’s team were lucky. Indeed, Bruno Guimaraes was perhaps fortunate to avoid a red card after a foul on Hammers midfielder James Ward-Prowse minutes after his first booking.

Throughout the game, there were incidents. Emerson was booked for calling for a yellow card, whereas Miguel Almiron wasn’t. So much so that Sky Sports pundit and former Toon midfielder Darren Ambrose hit out.

Darren Ambrose says the referee was a “disgrace” during West Ham vs Newcastle

“The inconsistency of officiating in this game alone has been a disgrace,” he told Sky Sports (14:47 on 08/10/2023.)

“Cynical foul from Paqueta should have been a yellow card. Wasn’t.

“Almiron is gesturing for a yellow card. Should have been a yellow as he gave Emerson one [for gesturing]. He didn’t give one.

“There should have been a red card for Guimaraes…

“There will be more goals but there will be more cards. The ref is losing control at the moment.”

Good to get out of there with a point

While conceding late was disappointing, it was a horrible game to watch. Newcastle started so poorly and laboured in possession until the break that, even despite Isak’s goals, a draw hardly seems a disaster given the overall performance.

With such a short turnaround from the PSG game and playing a team to have started so well this season, getting out of east London with a point is certainly a good thing.