West Ham lacked intensity and desire in their damaging defeat at Newcastle, says Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane.The Hammers are in big danger of being relegated from the Premier League after their 3-1 loss at St James’ Park.
Rivals Spurs need only one point from their final two Premier League fixtures to send West Ham down to the Championship. Should Spurs lose at Chelsea on Tuesday night, live on Sky Sports, West Ham would then need to beat Leeds at the London Stadium and hope Everton win at Spurs on the final day.
But despite the high stakes on Sunday, West Ham errors helped Newcastle to victory.”I bet Newcastle couldn’t believe their luck,” said Keane. “This is a Newcastle team who haven’t been brilliant recently and you’re gifting them the game.
“They had a go in the end – but it’s very easy to have a go when you’re 3-0 down. The game is done.
“It’s about the way they started the game. That wasn’t a team fighting for their lives.
“Obviously they’re lacking confidence. It’s as if they’ve not recovered from last weekend [against Arsenal]. The decision went against them last week, almost feeling sorry for themselves.”Be compact, be hard to beat, stay in the game. They’ve done the opposite of that. They’ve gifted goals and the table doesn’t lie. Not good enough. The decision-making – that is schoolboy stuff.”
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Newcastle United’s match against West Ham in the Premier League
West Ham were 2-0 down inside 19 minutes, with the first goal – coming from a poor pass out from goalkeeper Mads Hermansen, which allowed Harvey Barnes to cross for the unmarked Nick Woltemade to score – setting the tone.”I can’t believe it,” said Keane when reviewing that goal. “Players make mistakes. It’s what you do after that. You try to cover for your team-mates.”No intensity, no desire. Fighting for their lives? They didn’t show that.”To start the game like that, it’s a long way back.”Fernandes: We need to believe we can stay upWest Ham midfielder Matheus Fernandes also gave a damning assessment of the team’s performance. He called on his team-mates to step up and take responsibility.”The first 20 minutes was so painful for us,” he told Sky Sports. “We are trying to…
2026-05-17 20:00:00
