England midfielder Jonjo Shelvey made an impact on his Newcastle United debut as the Magpies boosted their hopes of avoiding relegation by beating in-form West Ham United 2-1 at St James' Park on Saturday.
Shelvey was involved in the build-up to both goals as Ayoze Perez and Georginio Wijnaldum scored in the first half to give Steve McClaren's side a 2-0 interval lead.
Substitute Nikica Jelavic got a goal back for West Ham after the restart but Newcastle held on to build on their 3-3 draw with Manchester United in midweek and claim a first win in seven games.
They climb out of the relegation zone at the expense of Swansea City, while a first defeat in 10 in all competitions for West Ham means they risk dropping out of the top five in the Premier League before the weekend is up.
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| The Guardian |
McClaren handed a debut to Shelvey after his £12 million move from Swansea and he combined with Wijnaldum to set up Perez, who curled a low shot into the bottom corner of the net for his fifth goal of the season just five minutes in.
West Ham 'keeper Adrian tipped over an Aleksandar Mitrovic shot before the home fans were off their feet again celebrating a second goal in the 16th minute.
Shelvey's ranging pass to the right flank found Daryl Janmaat and he centred low for Wijnaldum to convert his ninth of the season from close range.
West Ham brought on Jelavic for Pedro Obiang at the break and he needed just two minutes to get one back, intercepting a back-pass by Chancel Mbemba and rounding Rob Elliot to score.
McClaren then sent on his other new recruit Henri Saivet for a debut following his move from Bordeaux for £5 million and Newcastle held on for all three points.
However, they had to survive as a Cheikhou Kouyate header from close range was saved by Elliot before six minutes of time were added on, ensuring a nail-biting finale.
(c) Reuters
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