David Moyes insists there's 'no frustration whatsoever' after seeing his 10-man West Ham side concede three in defeat by Newcastle and fail to leapfrog Leicester into third... as Hammers boss admits individual mistakes cost his team at St James'

David Moyes insisted there was 'no drama' after West Ham spurned the chance to go third by losing at lowly Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday. 

West Ham were dealt a hammer blow after 36 minutes when Issa Diop clumsily swiped a weak Allan Saint-Maximin shot into his own net for Newcastle's opener, compounded when Craig Dawson was shown a second yard for a crude lunge after taking a heavy touch in the build-up to the goal.

Goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski then made a hash of a routine catch from a corner, allowing Joelinton to double the Magpies' lead five minutes later before Joe Willock capitalised on slack defending to head a late winner with the score at 2-2.

West Ham made mistakes for all three goals as they were beaten 3-2 at struggling Newcastle

West Ham made mistakes for all three goals as they were beaten 3-2 at struggling Newcastle

Hammers boss David Moyes (left) remained upbeat and praised his players despite the defeat

Hammers boss David Moyes (left) remained upbeat and praised his players despite the defeat

Moyes told Sky Sports: 'We think there was a chance lost today to pick up some points but it's very hard being down to 10 men. The players did a great job of getting back into it.


'Probably the disappointment is that, when we got it back to two each, we couldn't see that out. There's no frustration whatsoever. The players are doing brilliantly.

'We came, we put on a good performance, we didn't get the result we wanted but, overall, the players are doing a great job. We're without a few injured players but we put on a decent show.'

The setback was the third time in their last four matches that West Ham have conceded three times, letting in 10 goals along the way.

Joelinton put Newcastle 2-0 up at half-time after Lukasz Fabianski's howler following a corner

Joelinton put Newcastle 2-0 up at half-time after Lukasz Fabianski's howler following a corner

Their first defeat in four matches means that their place in the final Champions League spot is no longer in their own hands, with Liverpool and Chelsea both able to leapfrog them by winning their games in hand.

Reflecting on an afternoon when West Ham could have gone two points above Leicester into third, ex-Newcastle boss Graeme Souness said: 'It's been a great season for them.

'After the very first game of the season for them, against Newcastle, which they lost, you're thinking [it would be] another difficult season for them. [Moyes] will look at this game and say there were three avoidable goals [conceded]. 

'All three goals were avoidable. Dawson panics, has a poor first touch, lunges for it. 

Craig Dawson was sent off for a second bookable offence after lunging in before the first goal

Craig Dawson was sent off for a second bookable offence after lunging in before the first goal

'Mark Noble then has a chance to win [the ball], stays on his feet, does the right thing and I think he's [eventually] tried to poke it away from Saint-Maximin because he's not tried to put a block on [the shot], he's gone to ground too early for that.

'The shot from Saint-Maximin is weak, the goalkeeper's got the top of his fingers to it. That's a disaster, to concede a goal like that.'

'West Ham went from being a team on the front foot to a team that panicked, all of a sudden. They went from losing the game to bossing it completely in the second half.'

Moyes' side now face a potentially crucial showdown with fifth-placed Chelsea next Saturday.

Joe Willock stole in ahead of Ben Johnson to score a late winner and deny the visitors a point

Joe Willock stole in ahead of Ben Johnson to score a late winner and deny the visitors a point

The defiantly upbeat boss said: 'The players showed great character. They came from 2-0 down with 10 men and got us right back in the game so [there are] a lot of good things from it.

'We gave away a couple of really poor goals in the first half and the sending-off adds to it, as well. We kept at it, we didn't change. We altered things a wee bit at half-time but the players put up a great effort, they really did.

'There's no drama, we're not getting too down about it. We've had a couple of good results, we're doing ok.

'We want to keep trying to score goals… we need to stop conceding them as well. You're looking at individual mistakes more than anything else.'

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