West Ham United have ended 10-man Newcastle United's six-game winning streak after Aaron Cresswell's first Premier League goal secured a 1-0 win for the Hammers at Upton Park this afternoon.
Cresswell smashed in 56 minutes into the game before Moussa Sissoko was shown a second yellow card following an altercation with Andy Carroll.
The game's first opportunity fell to Newcastle, with Ayoze Perez firing wide after connecting with Yoan Gouffran's low cross.
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The hosts responded as Carroll flicked the ball on for Matt Jarvis, who did well to hold off Daryl Janmaat. The ball fell to Stewart Downing but his low shot was saved by Rob Elliot.
It was a lively first few minutes and both teams eventually settled down as the half wore on.
West Ham's Cheikhou Kouyate pushed forward on the counter-attack, but lost his footing and sliced a cross behind. At the other end, Newcastle's Massadio Haidara lashed a ball into the box that the hosts nervously cleared.
There were few openings of note from then on, with Perez managing to flick the ball goalwards following Sammy Ameobi's cross, but it sailed harmlessly into the side-netting.
After the restart, a West Ham counter-attack saw Downing cut inside before firing over. Newcastle's Jack Colback, meanwhile, tried an audacious shot from 30 yards, but it flew well over the crossbar.
Cresswell eventually gave West Ham the lead when he ran in and smashed the ball past Elliot after capitalising on Kouyate's error.
The goal gave the home side confidence and they began to assert their dominance on the game. Newcastle, on the other hand, struggled to create meaningful opportunities.
The visitors rarely looked like threatening West Ham's lead, and their task was made even more difficult when Sissoko was sent off for a second bookable offence after clashing with Andy Carroll.
From then on, it was a case of damage limitation for Alan Pardew's side as they kept out late efforts from Carroll and Mauro Zarate before the final whistle.
Benjamin Topliss
