LONDON: Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes poked home the only goal in a 1-0 win at West Ham United that lifted his side into sixth place in the Premier League on Monday.

The Brazilian applied the finishing touch from close range to a pass by Harvey Barnes in the 63rd minute and it proved enough to secure the points.

It was an impressive display by Newcastle who could have been excused having one eye on Sunday’s League Cup final against Liverpool at Wembley and the win put them right back in the mix for a Champions League qualifying berth.

“It was a massive win, we want to fight for Champions League again,” Guimaraes told Sky Sports. “[The final] has been a little bit of a distraction to be honest. Impossible for the players not to think about the final and we want to make history and be part of it.”

Newcastle have 47 points from 28 games, level with Manchester City and two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea. Even finishing fifth could be enough to ensure qualification for Europe’s elite club competition depending on the results of the remaining English clubs in continental action.

Newcastle had lost three of their previous four Premier League games and manager Eddie Howe said his team will go into the League Cup final in good heart.

The Tyneside club are aiming to win their first major trophy since the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and their first domestic prize since the 1955 FA Cup.

“One of our best wins of the season, not in terms of performance but desire and heart,” Howe said. “We’ll focus fully on Liverpool now. We’ll take everything into consideration.

“I felt we were in need of a win to go into the final with a real boost and lift. Will do us the world of good. Also for our league table position today was vital.”

West Ham were seeking a third league win in a row but were disappointing and managed only a couple of efforts on target as they remained in 16th place with 33 points.

Barnes was Newcastle’s main threat in the opening half, wasting one good chance and then forcing a sharp reflex save from Alphonse Areola with a close-range flick.

He was fully involved in Newcastle’s winner as his deft chipped cross picked out Guimaraes, who stretched out his leg to deflect the ball into the net, although there was a suspicion that United forward Alexander Isak had shoved Max Kilman in the back as the ball came across.

“It’s two hands on the back. It’s a push. You can see from Isak’s non celebration he thinks it’s a push. Clear for us but I’m not VAR,” West Ham manager Graham Potter said.

Having gone in front, Newcastle barely mustered another attack but were disciplined at the back against a West Ham side who huffed and puffed but offered little threat.

“We just need to carry on improving our attacking play. It’s not easy to do it at mid-season but I’m pretty confident we can turn it around,” Potter added.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2025