Coles to Newcastle

Newcastle 2 West Ham 2

What a shame. When the dust has settled and the game is appraised honestly, this will be seen as two points thrown away. Second half we were superb until we took the lead; then Zola came over all Turds and circled the wagons, trying to protect the points. The result? We invited Newcastle on, gave heart to the Geordie fans and turned certain victory into a scrambled draw.

The positives? Two superb goals. The Parker pass to Bellyache and the dinked finish from the tatooed gob, were both sublime. It was a brilliant goal but the second was perhaps even better. Cole was offside just before Ilunga hit the pass but he stepped onside cleverly, then darted forward as the pass was made. His finish was nothing short of stunning, blasting the ball past the best shot stopper in the Prmiership. Now let's just recap. This is Carlton Cole. Carlton Cole stepped up cleverly, darted forward astutely, controlled the ball beautifully and finished brilliantly. Did you ever expect to read that sentence? Amazing!

The negatives? Both goals were sloppy. Collins was slow to close Owen for the first and failed to show him on to his weaker foot. Green perhaps should have done better. For the second, Behrami was far too slow to close Duff who was given half the weekend to measure his cross and direct it on to Carroll's head.