Newcastle suppress Aaron Cresswell.
Daryl Janmaat surged with abandon in the first half, meaning that West Ham’s left back Aaron Cresswell – who likes to attack himself – found himself with an awful lot to do at the defensive end. Newcastle had identified West Ham’s lopsided attacking system, wherein James Tomkins hangs back, defending in the manner he enjoys, and Aaron Cresswell overlaps on the other side. Paul Dummett was rather less adventurous than Janmaat, hanging back and inviting Tomkins forward in the first half; multiple times Tomkins looked awkward and willing to offload the attacking burden onto Michail Antonio, a reluctance that actively sucked space from around his teammates, as Newcastle defenders swarmed around the real threats and left Tomkins well alone.
With Newcastle pressing ferociously, not allowing any balls into Dimitri Payet, taking Cresswell away as an attacking threat simply blunted West Ham further. Theirs was a confidently executed game plan and, even more promising, they resisted the yearning urge to collapse after Mbemba’s error just after half time.
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