Mohammed Kudus scored in the 89th minute for his first Premier League goal for West Ham United to secure a 2-2 draw against Newcastle United on Sunday.
The Ghana forward, whose involvement has mostly been limited to cameos as a substitute since joining from Ajax, came on as a 76th-minute replacement and slotted home a low finish from the edge of the area.
It had looked like Alexander Isak’s two goals in a five-minute span around the hour mark would earn a come-from-behind win for Newcastle and complete a great week for the northeast club. On Wednesday, the team beat Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 in the Champions League to mark the high point in the two-year tenure under its Saudi ownership.
Isak finished coolly in the 57th minute after West Ham midfielder Edson Alvarez inadvertently headed a Newcastle free-kick straight to the Sweden striker in the middle of the area.
Then, in the 62nd, Isak was on hand at the far post to tap in a volleyed cross from the right by Kieran Trippier.
The emotional impact of the midweek result against PSG appeared to affect Newcastle early on as West Ham made a fast start, with Tomas Soucek converting from close range in the eighth minute after Lucas Paqueta rounded goalkeeper Nick Pope before playing in an inviting cross to the Czech midfielder.
Newcastle was denied a fifth straight win in all competitions.
In the other match, defender Pau Torres’ back-post equaliser earned Aston Villa a 1-1 draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers that keeps Unai Emery’s side fifth in the standings.
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The in-form Hwang Hee-chan tapped home Pedro Neto’s pull-back to edge Wolves in front, the South Korean’s fifth goal of the season, in the 53rd minute.
Their advantage lasted just two minutes, however, as Torres steered a cross from Ollie Watkins into the net, on the stretch, to level things up.
Even though Mario Lemina was sent off for the visitors late on after picking up two yellow cards, Villa still had chances to win it in stoppage time, but settled for the draw, with Wolves climbing to 14th with the point.
(with inputs from Reuters)
