A spirited fightback may not have been enough to earn David Moyes' side all three points at St James' Park - but it certainly indicated they are ready to fight tooth and nail in order to preserve their Premier League status.
Dismantling suggestions in recent weeks that the manager had "lost the dressing room", Moyes' team recovered from a disastrous start to earn a point against a team who have still lost only once in 21 Premier League fixtures thus far this season - fewer than any other club.And but for that terrible opening to the game, in which Newcastle had the ball in West Ham's net two in the opening three minutes, it could've been ever better for the Hammers who have now won three and drawn two of their six matches in 2023.
Yet the game started in the worst possible fashion as Joe Willock found the net after just 39 SECONDS - although VAR came to West Ham's rescue as it determined Miguel Almiron's cross from the byline which led to the shot came from out of play.
However even that failed to spark the Hammers into life, and straight from the restart Newcastle took the lead as West Ham lost possession from Lukasz Fabianski's goal kick, a sequence of play which resulted in Callum Wilson, so often a thorn in the side of West Ham over the years passing the ball beyond an advancing Fabianski after he was set through behind the defence.
After that Hammer blow the Hammer began to grow into the game and the hosts could only conjure up one more effort before the half time interval - a header that sailed wide of its intended target midway through the half, and a matter of minutes before the Hammers levelled.
After a Lucas Paqueta shot has been deflected behind for a corner, skipper Declan Rice delivered the set piece to the far post when the Brazilian lost his marker, Magpies captain Kieran Trippier before turning the ball over the line for his first goal in open play as a Hammer. The goal also prefixed a quite remarkable celebration in which Paqeuta performed a double somersault as many watching Hammers fans winced.
Thereafter the game was to produce just one further shot on target, that when goalscorer Wilson found himself free of attention for once as he sent am 81st minute header straight as Fabianski from a free kick.
The two well-drilled defences, West Ham's led admirable by 'the Moroccan Moore' (aka Nayer Aguerd) restricted goalscoring opportunities to a minimum and it was no surprise to see the game peter out into a draw - and what was a well-deserved point for the Hammers, who climbed above Leeds and back up to 16th spot as a result.
West Ham Utd: Fabiański, Coufal (Downes 90+1), Kehrer (Johnson 46), Ogbonna, Aguerd, Emerson, Rice, Paquetá (Souček 74), Benrahma (Fornals 74), Bowen, Antonio (Ings 80)
Subs not used: Anang, Hegyi, Cresswell, Lanzini
Goals: Paquetá (32)
Booked: Aguerd (90+1)
Newcastle Utd: Pope, Trippier, Schär, Botman, Burn, S.Longstaff, Willock (Anderson 81), Joelinton, Almirón (Murphy 81), Saint-Maximin (Gordon 69), Wilson
Subs not used: Dubravka, Lewis, Dummett, Lascelles, Ritchie, Fraser
Goals: Wilson (3)
Booked: Willock (45), Saint-Maximin (51), Joelinton (57)
Possession: Newcastle 63%; West Ham 37%
Shots/on target: Newcastle 8/2; West Ham 10/1
Referee: Peter Bankes
Attendance: 52,256
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