Newcastle United wanted a penalty for a Tomas Soucek West Ham handball but were denied with an immediate verdict given on the decision
17:57, 17 May 2026Updated 18:22, 17 May 2026
Newcastle United were denied a penalty early in the first-half against West Ham(Image: Sky Sports)
Newcastle United have been handed an immediate handball verdict after being denied a penalty against West Ham. Tomas Soucek appeared to handle a Bruno Guimaraes cross but appeals were quickly waved away to the surprise of Sky Sports co-commentator Alan Smith.
On the incident, he said: “The arm was away from the body and he moved towards the ball. He is so fortunate!”
Thankfully for the Magpies, the decision going against them did not overly matter with Nick Woltemade turning home a Harvey Barnes cross after a quarter of an hour.
Newcastle again carved open the visitors to St James Park just four minutes later as William Osula slotted through the legs of Mads Hermansen after a great ball from Jacob Ramsey.
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The Hammers responded well to going two goals down with Taty Castellanos, who came on midway through the half for Jean-Clair Todibo, forcing Nick Pope into a good save from close-range.
Despite that, Newcastle look like scoring with every attack, which suggests there will be plenty more goals in this game especially with the hosts having kept just one clean sheet since mid-January.
Eddie Howe’s side have been much improved in recent weeks, with a win over Brighton followed up by a good point at a rejuvenated Nottingham Forest.
Having lost to bitter rivals Sunderland twice this season, Newcastle need to beat West Ham in order to still have a chance of finishing above the Black Cats.
Newcastle flew into an early lead against West Ham(Image: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)
Howe made a few changes to his starting XI with Kieran Trippier being brought in at right-back as one of them. He is set to leave the club at the end of this season.
Despite Jacob Murphy coming out of the team, there was still no place for Anthony Gordon. He missed a few weeks through injury but has been an unused substitute in recent games.
The England international is being strongly linked to a transfer this summer, with Bayern Munich appearing as frontrunners for his signature.
Speaking on Gordon not playing despite being back available, Howe said: “When you get to this stage of the season, part of what we will be doing we’ll be looking to next year, naturally, so yes.
“Anthony’s just come back from injury. I think the team has played well in his absence and with a partial view to the future, yes.”
