Sam Allardyce:

"We have to say it’s a fantastic finish from Aaron Cresswell, but rather fortuitous that he got in that position.

"You wouldn’t expect your full-back to think this maybe comes to me when he’s running into the box, so we give him all the credit for the anticipation that he’s shown. But it was a wonderful, wonderful finish.

"I think it was always looking like a one-nil today apart from when Newcastle went down to 10-men and then we had several chances to kill the game off and you’ve always got that little bit of anxiety that any slip when you are 1-0 up may cost you, even against 10 men.

"It was a fantastic victory for us and I think that in the end the victory was more important, because we have played much better than that. The 1-0 was well received by everybody today.

"Getting back on the winning trail, if we are at this stage at the season, going into December and certainly with the injuries that we’ve got at the moment, you’ve got to overcome and overcoming it is by making sure the team that goes out there gets a result.

"When you consider that Newcastle are the in-form team in the Premier League, six wins on the trot, it’s a massive, massive victory for us."
 

On a day when little went right for them anywhere on the field, Newcastle's six game winning run ended abruptly in E13 on Saturday. With old boys Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan in action, Big Sham's West Ham side ran out winners in the fifth v sixth clash - although they looked far from impressive.

Sadly for the Magpies, the bulk of their problems were self-induced, Moussa Sissoko seeing red after a moment of madness and other brainless episodes contributing to only our second defeat here in nine visits. Jack Colback's fifth booking means that he's also unavailable for Burnley on Tuesday, while the hamstring problem that forced Daryl Janmaat off places further strain on the squad. 

Sissoko spoilt his recent run of form with two avoidable bookings within 45 seconds. Infuriated by being penalised when it looked as if he was the innocent party, United's stand-in captain earned his first yellow for kicking the ball away and within a minute was trudging off after going in heavily on Carroll and then pushing him over right in front of referee Mike Dean.

That earned Sissoko an inevitable second yellow card and then a red, but to conclude that his actions cost the visitors their seven game unbeaten run isn't the case.

Cheick Tiote's return after a six game absence should have bolstered midfield and allowed others to push up and support Ayoze Perez, but too often that failed to materialise and the Spanish striker was left to face a posse of defenders on his tod. Dragging an early effort wide, ending another run by checking back rather than shooting, Perez also wasn't far away with a neat flicked effort at the near post, but Hammers goalkeeper Adrian was sadly under-worked for the rest of the afternoon.

Opposite number Rob Elliot - in for ankle injury victim Tim Krul - had also enjoyed an uneventful first Premier League outing since last April before picking the ball out of his net just before the hour, as our epic shutout record ended just past the eight hour mark. And in typical fashion, the decisive strike was a scruffy, almost apologetic effort rather than an onion bag buster.

But however unlucky the Magpies may have been then, turning dominance into goals eluded them and continued over-elaboration when straightforward options were open was galling. Papiss Cisse, Remy Cabella and Steven Taylor all appeared from the bench and the visitors pushed forward in the final 15 minutes, but further self-indulgence on the ball to let the home side off the hook.

The Hammers will also point at a late handful of chances - notably when Elliot got both hands on a Zarate shot and Downing dragged a shot across the face of goal. 

Into added time though and at 1-0 there still looked to be a chance of punishing an unconvincing Hammers side and taking something from the game. With Elliot waved upfield when Newcastle forced a corner (that was promptly wasted once more) a rapid break then saw the ball arrive at Cisse with Adrian having rushed towards the edge of his box and left his goal completely unguarded.

Sadly the number nine failed to judge the situation and instead of taking a touch instinctively whacked it to nowhere in particular - summing up our wasted day. The defeat saw United slip to eighth in the table but with Spurs beating Everton on Sunday that became ninth.

Biffa