Said Benrahma, Tomas Soucek, Jesse Lingard, West Ham, Premier League 2020-21Getty

Benrahma scores & assists as West Ham defeat Newcastle in six-goal thriller

Algeria forward Said Benrahma scored his 32nd goal in English football across all competitions as West Ham United opened their Premier League season with a 4-2 victory over Newcastle at St James' Park on Sunday.

The 26-year-old, who had joined the Hammers permanently from Brentford in the off-season, found the back of the net in the 53rd minute when he converted a Michail Antonio pass to make the score 2-2.

The Magpies had opened the scoring in the fifth minute when Callum Wilson headed in an Allan Saint-Maximin cross.

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However, in the 19th minute, the David Moyes-led charges equalized when Pablo Fornals picked out Aaron Cresswell in the danger zone and the latter tapped the ball in from close range. After a lengthy VAR review, the goal stood.

Benrahma thought he had won a penalty for his team when he went down under a challenge in the danger zone three minutes later, but referee Martin Atkinson was not interested.

The hosts reclaimed their lead two minutes before the half-time break after Jacob Murphy reacted fastest to Matt Ritchie's cross, giving Lukasz Fabianski no chance to make a save.

After coming close in the 45th minute, Benrahma finally had his name in the scoresheet eight minutes later. It was an easy finish after Antonio had done all the hard work.

Antonio could have scored 10 minutes later, but he failed to convert a penalty that was conceded by Murphy, as Freddie Woodman parried the spot-kick.

It mattered little as Tomas Soucek was there to tap in the rebound, and save his teammate's blushes. 

Benrahma put the icing on the cake after setting up Antonio four minutes later to score the fourth for the Londoners to ensure they won comfortably. 

Before Sunday's goal, Benrahma scored 30 while playing for the Bees. He scored 27 goals in the Championship while the remaining three came in the League Cup.

The other goal was last season, while he was on loan with the Hammers.

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