WEST HAM UNITED
13. Adrian
18. Carl Jenkinson
19. James Collins
5. James Tomkins
3. Aaron Cresswell
16. Mark Noble
8. Cheikhou Kouyate 85'
21. Morgan Amalfitano
11. Stewart Downing
7. Matthew Jarvis 70'
9. Andy Carroll
Subs:
4. Kevin Nolan 85'
10. Mauro Zarate 70'
12. Ricardo Vaz Te
17. Joey O'Brien
20. Guy Demel
22. Jussi Jaaskelainen
24. Carlton Cole
NEWCASTLE UNITED
21. Rob Elliot
22. Daryl Janmaat 74'
6. Mike Williamson
36. Paul Dummett
19. Massadio Haidara
24. Cheick Tiote 63'
14. Jack Colback
11. Yoan Gouffran 63'
7. Moussa Sissoko
28. Sammy Ameobi
17. Ayoze Perez
Subs:
8. Vurnon Anita
9. Papiss Cisse 63'
20. Remy Cabella 63'
27. Steven Taylor 74'
29. Emmanuel Riviere
31. Jak Alnwick
32. Adam Armstrong
Moussa Sissoko was sent off for the most of ridiculous of reasons, and I'm sure he had a sleepless night over it last night.
Defender Aaron Cresswell scored his first goal for the club after 56 minutes, but it was cruel on the Toon.
With 15 minutes left, Sissoko received two careless yellow cards in 45 seconds, one for kicking the ball away - then furious with himself for getting the card - he lashed out and picked up another!
To be honest it was a very poor game that no team should have won.
There was plenty of effort, but that should be a "given", so probably neither team deserved to lose, either.
After eight minutes, Stewart Downing, fit again after a knee problem, sent in a low shot from 20 yards which was comfortably gathered by Rob Elliot, who replaced injured Tim Krul in the Newcastle goal.
Newcastle threatened on the break when Sissoko fed Ayoze Perez down the left and the Spaniard went on to the edge of the penalty area, but James Tomkins got back to clear.
There was a brief stoppage when the same defender - criticised for apparent play-acting in an altercation with Everton's Kevin Mirallas last weekend - went down after being caught in the face by the outstretched boot of Andy Carroll as the forward blocked a cross from the right.
After 37 minutes, a flick at the near post from Perez after a cross from the left went into the side-netting.
The West Ham supporters in the Sir Trevor Brooking Stand were screaming for a penalty as former Newcastle man Carroll crashed the ball at Mike Williamson, which looked to hit him on the underside of the upper arm, but referee Mike Dean was not interested.
At the start of the second half there was more urgency about the hosts, who had drawn their last home match 0-0 against Aston Villa, with Downing charging down the left before curling a 20-yard effort over.
There was a let-off for Newcastle when a deep free-kick from James Collins caused panic in the penalty box, with Elliot completely missing his attempted punch clear, and the ball bounced wide for a corner.
West Ham were ahead after 56 minutes.
Downing fed Cheikhou Kouyate at the edge of the box. His scuffed shot fell straight into the path of advancing full-back Cresswell, who guided the ball into the bottom corner for his first goal since moving from Ipswich.
Newcastle, who had kept four clean sheets going into the match, made a double change on the hour when Papiss Cisse and Remy Cabella replaced Yoan Gouffran and Cheick Tiote.
The visitors, though, continued to lack a cutting edge in the final third as West Ham were dangerous on the counter-attack.
Newcastle had to play the final 15 minutes with 10 men after Sissoko was ordered off.
First the France midfielder kicked the ball away after a foul against him in the West Ham penalty area, and then bundled into Carroll as the referee reached for his pocket once again.
In the closing stages, Elliot pushed a curling shot from substitute Mauro Zarate around the post and Downing dragged an effort wide after a surging run down the left.