Ghana midfielder Mohammed Kudus was the hero at the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon, as his fabulous late strike earned West Ham United a hard-fought 2-2 draw against Newcastle United.
The former Ajax man, who joined the Hammers for £38 million over the summer, replaced Czech midfielder Tomas Soucek on the 76th minute mark and found the back of the net thirteen minutes later with a stunning low strike into the bottom corner, beating English goalie Nick Pope to help his side claim a point in their four-goal thriller.
Late drama as Mo saves a point at London Stadium ⚒️ pic.twitter.com/OOdEH67PBk
— West Ham United (@WestHam) October 8, 2023
Soucek opened the scoring for West Ham very early on, tapping into an empty net after Italian left back Emerson had rounded Pope and set the ball on a plate for the lanky Czech man.
The home side should have doubled their lead six minutes into the second half, but Mexican midfielder Edson Alvarez could only put his header wide off the left post. Five minutes later, Newcastle could have drawn level when Alphonso Areola was on hand to deny Dan Burn’s close-range header.
However, the Magpies would not be denied a minute later, as Swedish forward Alexander Isak finally drew them level. The 24-year-old benefitted from a deflection off Alvarez from a Kieran Trippier set piece before sending the ball into the top corner of the West Ham goal.
Isak got his second of the game five minutes later, tapping into the net from close range after another beautiful pass from Trippier. The former Real Sociedad forward now has six goals in the league and has scored in his last three games.
With time dwindling and the mood inside the London Stadium a bit gloomy, Kudus stepped in to draw David Moyes’ men level with his first Premier League goal of the season. The 23-year-old received the ball from Vladimir Coufal before taking a touch and latching a powerful low strike into the Newcastle goal.
The Hammers could have gotten the winner in the first minute of stoppage time, but Pope was at full stretch to deny English forward Jarrod Bowen.
The two sides shared the spoils, taking West Ham to 14 points and Newcastle to 13 points as they both remained 7th and 8th, respectively, on the league standings.
