Newcastle United stadium fear clear as ideal transfer target talks up St James' Park atmosphere

West Ham United's players, manager and fans all expected an incredibly tough trip to Tyneside on Monday evening as they entered a hostile St James' Park on the back of a run of poor form. As they all headed back to the capital come full-time, those fears had turned to delight after stunning Newcastle United in their own backyard.

Jarrod Bowen was once close to signing for the Magpies under Steve Bruce and would be the ideal winger to target in the hope of bolstering Eddie Howe's attacking options. The England international was even tipped to arrive in the summer but remains fiercely loyal to the club he captains - despite knowing the pulling power of a hyped up St James' Park.

"I said we needed a performance before the game and I think we did that," Bowen said after the 2-0 win. "Newcastle always score at home so to keep a clean sheet and score two goals [is good]. It is an atmosphere that you have to control and I think we did that perfectly."

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Newcastle fans will admit they went into the tie extremely confident of extending their winning run on home soil. However, as Tomas Soucek wheeled away after heading the ball home in the 10th minute, that belief wavered slightly. When Aaron Wan-Bissaka doubled the away side's advantage that pre-match confidence felt a long way away.

Soucek said after the game: “I have to say that Newcastle have great fans, they support incredibly well, but I’m so happy how we dealt with that and I have to say our away fans are amazing."

West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui had planned for the 8pm trip to Tyneside by making his team train at night, rather than in the morning. The Spaniard also spoke both pre and post-match of Newcastle's venue and the challenge he expected from the trip up the country.

"We played with an identity and we overcame a team which is very good. In this stadium it is always a tough match," the West Ham boss said at full-time.

Howe saw the defeat as an 'opportunity missed' after enjoying his side's first-half performance and will now have to navigate how the Magpies re-find their winning streak at home after a second defeat of the season at their 52,000-seater home.