West Ham United registered a significant 3-1 comeback victory over Newcastle United at the London Stadium, marking Nuno Espirito Santo's inaugural win as manager and securing the team's first home points of the season. The match began poorly for West Ham, as Jacob Murphy capitalized on an early opportunity, putting Eddie Howe's side ahead within five minutes, shortly after a Jarrod Bowen effort struck the post. Despite a denied penalty claim for Bowen, West Ham rallied, taking the lead before half-time thanks to a powerful Lucas Paquetá strike from outside the box and a fortuitous Sven Botman own goal. Contrary to their defensive record, West Ham successfully maintained their lead throughout the second half, with Newcastle struggling to seriously threaten Alphonse Areola's goal. Tomáš Souček ultimately sealed the win for the home side seven minutes into stoppage time.

Lucas Paquetá emerged as the undisputed protagonist for West Ham, delivering a vintage midfield performance. Against Newcastle's robust midfield trio of Bruno Guimarães, Joelinton, and Sandro Tonali, Paquetá shone, epitomizing the 'bravery' Espirito Santo had called for. He won four of his seven duels and completed the most passes for his side in an action-packed first half. His powerful, low effort past Nick Pope from 30.4 meters (33.2 yards) was not only a crucial equalizer but also the longest goal of his Premier League career and provided the much-needed jolt for a stadium that had not witnessed a home point all season. With recent reports of the Brazilian wanting to leave and the FA concluding a spot-fixing case against him with a mere warning, Paquetá's performance underscored his critical importance to West Ham's Premier League survival.

Newcastle United, conversely, faced continued attacking troubles. Despite new No. 9 Nick Woltemade's six goals in all competitions, the overall offensive unit struggled. Eddie Howe expressed his frustration, making a rare triple change at half-time, substituting Woltemade, Anthony Gordon, and Fabian Schär in an attempt to inject energy, but these changes ultimately failed to have an impact. Woltemade registered a team-low 14 touches in a sluggish first half, while Gordon failed to create a chance. Outside of Woltemade, only three other players (Guimarães with three, Murphy and Will Osula with one each) have scored a league goal for Newcastle this season. Howe noted the team's poor body language and lack of collective spirit, stating that they were