NEWCASTLE 3-1 WEST HAM: Two first half goals in four minutes from Nick Woltemade and William Osula, who went on to score a brace, leaves the Hammers on the brink of relegation
The game is almost up for West Ham.
Nuno Espirito Santo's side are now staring relegation square in the face after this meek surrender at Newcastle in a game they simply could not afford to lose. And that means Tottenham, their biggest rivals in the Premier League, could relegate the beleaguered Hammers before they are able to kick another ball.
To do so they will have to beat Chelsea in a London derby on Tuesday night, so there could yet be more twists and turns ahead. But it's a fixture Spurs will fancy their chances in given Chelsea's own struggles of late. And with just one game remaining, the reality is Tottenham can stay up without banking a point in either of their remaining games.
West Ham looked to be on course for a relegation reprieve following successive home wins against Wolves and Everton last month, the latter ensuring Spurs would remain in the dreaded dropzone despite recording a first league win since December on the same day.
Successive losses without scoring, to Brentford and Arsenal, has seen the tables turn on West Ham. Victory here was imperative to pile pressure on their less than convincing rivals in the limp two-team survival shootout that has materialised in recent weeks - and yet they went out with a whimper rather than swinging on Tyneside.
If this was a boxing match, the towel would have been in long before Jarred Gillett called time. It took 15 minutes for West Ham to be breached but they were on the ropes well before Newcastle's 15th minute opener as the hosts lobbed bombs in their direction.
The goal, when it eventually did come, was absolutely criminal. West Ham were far too lax playing out from the back enabling Harvey Barnes to intercept the ball. The winger was then allowed to travel unchallenged into the penalty area, with Newcastle's overly generous visitors then gifting him all the time in the world to deftly chip the ball into the path of the unmarked Woltemade, who swept home with aplomb from six yards.
Things went from bad to worse four minutes later. Newcastle cut through West Ham like a hot knife through butter to put William Osula through. He made no mistake, driving the ball through Mads Hermansen to hammer another nail into the West Ham coffin.
Nuno responded by sacrificing Jean-Clair Todibo for Taty Castellanos to play a front two in the 27th minute. But while that fuelled a brief West Ham flurry which carried over into the second half, where they finally showed some fight after a complete non-start, they were unable to plunder themselves any sort of lifeline.
The Hammers were their own worst enemy at St James' Park in terms of the goals they gave away and that was evident again when Osula gleefully killed the game off to punish more sloppiness from those in claret and blue, this time from an ill-judged throw-in.
There was still time for Castellanos to produce a moment of genius to get West Ham on the scoresheet, at least. But it counted for little in the end.
Defeat to the Toon Army means Tottenham will relegate West Ham on Tuesday night with three points. A point would also all but send the East Londoners down given the chasm in goal difference between the two sides.
West Ham will hope a Chelsea favour can keep them alive heading into next week's season finale. But this defeat felt terminal. Time will tell if it proves to be.