London: Newcastle United and Manchester United both strengthened their case for a place in next season’s Champions League with important wins in the Premier League on Wednesday night.
Callum Wilson scored twice as Newcastle produced a convincing 5-1 win away to West Ham United, a result which keeps West Ham deep in a battle against relegation and could put coach David Moyes’ job at risk.
Wilson headed Newcastle ahead following a set piece in the sixth minute of the game and Joelington made it 2-0 just seven minutes later after breaking the West Ham offside trap.
Kurt Zouma scored an easy header to get West Ham back into the game five minutes from halftime after Newcastle keeper Nick Pope missed a corner, but comedic defending in the first minute of the second half allowed Wilson to score an easy second.
Substitute Alexander Isak added a fourth in the 82nd minute after a poor mistake from Lucas Fabianski, who rushed out of his area, but failed to control a through ball and Joelington scored his second in the last minute.
Marcus Rashford’s instinctive finish after Brentford failed to clear a 27th minute corner, saw Manchester United bounce back from their defeat to Newcastle last weekend with a 1-0 win.
The results leave both sides on 53 points after 28 matches, three points more than fifth place Tottenham, who have played 29 games and have a tough match against Brighton on Saturday.
