(Credit: Imago)

Evan Shaw

Sun 17 May 2026 19:28, UK

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Newcastle United heaped yet more misery on West Ham United as they ran out 3-1 winners at St James’ Park on Sunday afternoon.

The visitors are locked in a battle against relegation with Tottenham, who now have the chance to relegate them if they beat Chelsea on Tuesday night.

Newcastle got on their way with a quickfire double on Tyneside, as Nick Woltemade turned home the opener with a close-range volley in the 15th minute, before Will Osula broke clear to net the second just four minutes later.

Osula struck again in the 65th minute, before Taty Castellanos netted a consolation for the visitors with an incredible long-range volley.

Newcastle’s latest victory has left them with an outside chance of securing a European place on the final day, while Football Insider picked out three errors from referee Jarred Gillett during an action-packed encounter.

West Ham get away with huge penalty shout

West Ham survived a major scare in just the 10th minute of the action, when the ball struck the arm of midfielder Tomas Soucek inside their box.

The Czech star appeared to lean towards the ball as it glanced off his arm and ran through to goalkeeper Mads Hermansen, who safely collected it after a spell of pressure.

The incident sparked brief appeals from the Newcastle players, but they were swiftly waved away by Gillett, while VAR official Craig Pawson deemed that Soucek’s arm was in a natural position.

However, replays seemed to suggest that the 31-year-old moved his arm towards the loose ball slightly, thus taking it out of his silhouette as a result.

It was the type of incident that supporters have become accustomed to seeing result in penalty kicks, but on this occasion, Gillett felt that it was not worthy of a spot-kick.

West Ham needed everything to go in their favour amid their ongoing fight against relegation, and they could count themselves extremely lucky to have got away with this penalty shout.

Malick Thiaw extremely fortunate to avoid booking

Malick Thiaw has been a revelation for Newcastle since his arrival from AC Milan last summer, and he was excellent for them yet again on Sunday.

However, the centre-back could surely count himself hugely lucky not to have gone into Gillett’s book when he launched the ball away after the official had blown for a West Ham free-kick in the 41st minute.

Soucek was felled on the edge of the hosts’ box, and Thiaw responded by drilling the loose ball back up the pitch after it had broken to him following the referee’s whistle.

The German had plenty of time to react after Gillett blew for the foul, and it was not a justifiable excuse to suggest that he had acted as if the play was still going on.

Thiaw undoubtedly should have been shown a yellow card for kicking the ball away, which would have left him walking a tightrope for the remainder of the game.

Kieran Trippier gets away with scything down Crysencio Summerville

West Ham were resurgent in the latter stages as they worked to try and find a way back into the game, and the contest became very end-to-end as it headed towards the final minutes.

Crysencio Summerville came into his own as the clock was winding down, as he used his energy to drive West Ham up the pitch on several occasions.

The Dutchman landed on a loose ball on the edge of his own box in the 82nd minute, and immediately side-stepped Kieran Trippier to break away, despite the veteran catching him with a lunging challenge.

It was a clear attempt to stop the counter-attack from the departing Magpies star, and he almost succeeded as he knocked Summerville off stride for a moment.

Nevertheless, the winger continued his run before he was eventually pulled back by Lewis Hall deep into the Newcastle half, as he ended up receiving the yellow card from Gillett.

However, Trippier was hugely lucky that he wasn’t also handed a caution, as the intent was clear to scythe Summerville down at the first possible opportunity.