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West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui believes his side “deserved to win” as they sealed a 2-0 victory over Newcastle at St James’ Park.
Lopetegui came into the game under pressure following some poor displays from the Hammers in recent weeks but they earned a hard-fought victory to end the Magpies’ three-game winning spell.
Despite a promising opening from the hosts, Tomas Soucek headed West Ham in front before Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s first goal for the club after the break wrapped up victory.
Lopetegui was pleased with his side’s display following a “tough match”.
He said: “I am happy for the three points and am very happy against a good team like Newcastle, who have good players and a fantastic coach.
“I think today was a tough match and we were able to compete as a team.
“I think we deserved to win. Today they had many moments in the first half, but I think the second half we deserved to win and we are happy because you have to do these kind of matches against this type of team if you want to overcome them.”
Newcastle started brightly and had plenty of chances in the first half especially, but the visitors responded after the break by retaining possession well.
The win eases the pressure on Lopetegui, whose West Ham side face Arsenal on Saturday, and he believes the victory is an important feeling for his players.
He said: “I think the only thing that is under our control is to play football, to improve, to defend well, to convince the players we are able to do better.
“Today we did, but I think the only thing we can do is to do the things that are under our control, not today but every day.
“So we had to keep with this mentality, but above all let me say we are happy for the players because they need this kind of feeling as a team to believe that we are able to do well as a team, to put the best for each player of the team.”
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe admitted defeat was a missed opportunity for his side.
The Magpies missed a series of chances in the first half, including efforts from Joe Willock and Sean Longstaff, before Alexander Isak blasted a chance off target.
Anthony Gordon also rolled an effort just wide of the post after the break and Isak headed wide of goal.
Three points could have seen Newcastle move into the top six and Howe admitted his side need to learn from the match.
“Yes, massive because the league is so tight that a couple of wins and the whole picture looks very different,” Howe said.
“We’ll kick ourselves tonight because we knew the opportunity we had, a home game, Monday night, a great moment for us potentially in our season, so we have to learn from that and come back stronger.”
