David Moyes feels West Ham 'fell apart' against Newcastle United, discusses Kalvin Phillips foul for penalty

David Moyes admitted West Ham "fell apart" against Newcastle as they saw a 3-1 lead evaporate in just six minutes before Harvey Barnes’ injury-time winner.

It seemed like Moyes’ side were cruising when Jarrod Bowen coolly finished off a counter-attack move to put The Hammers two goals ahead at the start of the second half, capping a clinical spell that appeared to be a huge step in the battle for Europe.

However, a tight penalty decision allowed Alexander Isak to net his second spot kick of the day with 13 minutes left, and Barnes’ equaliser followed almost immediately before he secured a 4-3 win on the stroke of 90 minutes to cap a victory that Magpies boss Eddie Howe described as one of his best.

With the top eight in the Premier League potentially qualifying for European football next season, the turnaround at St James’ Park could be decisive with nine points separating sixth-placed Manchester United and Bournemouth in 13th.

“We were playing against a good Newcastle team with a lot of good attacking players and that showed in the second half,” Moyes told TNT Sports.

The West Ham boss continued: “We have a lot of good attacking players and that showed in the first half and a bit of the second half, but when it came to the defending bit, that part fell apart a little bit.

"Maybe both teams might say that but certainly we fell apart more than they did.”

Moyes also questioned the VAR penalty call on the luckless Kalvin Phillips that sparked the Newcastle comeback, as they closed to within a point of the seventh-placed Hammers.

Phillips was lining up a clearance in the penalty area when Anthony Gordon dived in, getting his foot in front just in time so Phillips made contact with Gordon’s ankle rather than the ball.

Phillips had been on the field for under 10 minutes and protested his innocence, but that fell on deaf ears as VAR awarded Newcastle’s second penalty in a thrilling game.

Indeed, it had been the Newcastle dugout up in arms in the first half as West Ham fought back from 1-0 behind to take the lead in the 10th minute of stoppage time through Mohammed Kudus.

Fabian Schar conceded a free kick but stayed down after a glancing contact to his face, but West Ham wasted no time as Bowen latched onto the quickly taken set-piece to feed Kudus for the Ghanaian’s 15th goal of the season.

Howe seemed frustrated that play had not been halted for Schar and when Bowen added his side’s third after half-time the game appeared over - but Gordon and Barnes had other ideas.

“Sometimes in football, small margins change the game,” Moyes added. “I actually think that the boy kicks Phillips if you want to look at it a different way, he puts his foot in front of Kalvin Phillips and stops him kicking the ball so I don’t see how that’s really a penalty kick but there you go, it was given.

“Very similar to the first one in some ways, but those decisions didn’t go, they were really tough decisions, close decisions that didn’t fall in our favour.

"I think at 3-1 if we don't give away the penalty we start to ease the game out, but I think the referee played a huge part in the result today, I really do.”

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