Newcastle United £28m summer signing 'nailed on' after big Eddie Howe U-turn pays off

Newcastle United rescued their season in dramatic fashion as they came from 3-1 down to win 4-3 against West Ham United at St James' Park.

The early Saturday afternoon kick-off saw Newcastle take an early lead from the penalty spot through Alexander Isak before Michail Antonio, Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen put The Hammers in control. Eddie Howe's side continued to pick up injury blows before mounting a late comeback in the final 13 minutes of normal time.

Isak scored a second penalty to make it 3-2 before assisting substitute Harvey Barnes for the equaliser. A stunning second goal for Barnes in the 90th minute secured an incredible turnaround and memorable victory for the side, who finished the match with 10 men following a late second yellow card for Anthony Gordon.

Here are five talking points from the game...

Newcastle United injury returns, fresh blows and Kieran Trippier teased 'return'

Howe made just one forced change from the side that was beaten 2-0 at Manchester City before the international break with Tino Livramento coming into the side at right-back in place of the injured Sven Botman.

Barnes also returned on the bench after missing the last two matches with a hamstring injury. Kieran Trippier had missed the last two matches ahead of Saturday's game and was a late arrival at St James' Park, suggesting he could be back involved but he ultimately remained out of the matchday squad with a calf issue.

Unfortunately for Newcastle, the injury problems kept on coming with an early knee problem for Jamaal Lascelles forcing him off and ultimately plunging the side into defensive chaos - but more on that later. Livramento, who had to switch to left-back following Lascelles' injury was then forced off, as was substitute Miguel Almiron.

Defender Fabian Schar felt his hamstring in the closing stages but had to play on with Newcastle having already made all five substitutes.

Eddie Howe's defensive dilemma

Lascelles' injury forced Howe to make a difficult decision early in the match with Newcastle leading 1-0 through an Isak penalty. Lewis Hall, Emil Krafth and Paul Dummett were all sent to warm up while The Magpies' skipper received treatment.

Introducing Hall at left-back would have seen Dan Burn move into left centre-back and Schar to the other side with Livramento remaining at right-back. Dummett's hypothetical introduction at centre-back would have seen Schar move into the right centre-back role with Livramento and Burn remaining as the full-backs.

Instead, Howe opted to introduce Krafth at right-back, which led to all of the back four changing positions as Livramento swapped to left-back, Schar moved across and Burn went into the middle.

Unsurprisingly, that led to a disjointed and disorganised defensive line for The Magpies. Just four minutes later, Krafth played Antonio onside to equalise for The Hammers.

The defensive issues continued with West Ham's controversial quick free-kick taken while Schar was down holding his face leading to the visitors going in front just before half-time as Newcastle were caught sleeping at the back.

Minutes after the restart, the defence was nowhere to be seen as West Ham countered from a corner and Bowen made it 3-1.

Newcastle United's game-changing substitutions & Emil Krafth introduction explained

Livramento's injury shortly after then forced Howe to rectify his initial change as he brought on Hall while also taking Krafth off with Elliot Anderson and Almiron also coming on. The latter would last just 10 minutes before being replaced by Harvey Barnes.

Explaining his changes, Howe said: "The first change is a difficult one because Dan has played left-back for so long, we sort of view him in that position. I felt he was the best one to go inside.

“I could possibly have brought Lewis on at that stage, but I went for a little bit more height with Emil with West Ham's set-play threat knowing that losing Jamaal was a big blow to us physically.

“But second half, I wanted to give the subs a chance to get into the game, to grow into the game. I wanted to make the changes early and I felt we needed to because we'd just lost a bit of momentum at that time.

“When Lewis comes on and Elliot comes on and Miggy comes on, I felt they all gave us a big lift, and of course Harvey scored the two goals.

Howe added: "[Krafth substitution] wasn't an injury. I wanted to get as many attacking players on the pitch as I could."

The changes of Anderson, Hall and Barnes were crucial in turning the game in Newcastle's favour.

Newcastle United's incoming £28m signing proves his worth

It has been a difficult loan spell for Lewis Hall at Newcastle as he's been limited to just one Premier League start and, before Saturday, hadn't featured in any of the side's last six league matches.

A 'nailed on' £28million obligation to buy the 19-year-old certainly elevates expectations, but Hall hasn't been given much of an opportunity to impress so far this season. A goal in a 3-0 Carabao Cup win at Manchester United aside, the teenager hasn't exactly made the most of the few opportunities that have come his way.

But Saturday was comfortably Hall's best outing in a Newcastle shirt to date. While Barnes will grab the 'super sub' plaudits for his two goals, it was Hall's introduction at left-back that sparked Howe's side into life heading into the closing stages.

An all energy display where he didn't put a foot wrong, stifled The Hammers and got forward well to help swing the momentum in Newcastle's favour. While there have been question marks over the significant fee Newcastle will have to pay Chelsea for Hall this summer, performances like that show why he is so highly rated.

Newcastle's first comeback win of the season

For the first time this season, Newcastle had come from behind to win a match. The Magpies also have a Premier League high of 13 goals scored by substitutes this season, four of which have come courtesy of Barnes at the Gallowgate End.

The win keeps Howe's side right in the hunt for European qualification with nine games remaining as they moved up to eighth, just a point behind West Ham with a game in hand.

Eighth place could be enough for Europa Conference League qualification this season with seventh potentially getting Europa League football. It may have looked on life-support heading into the closing stages of Saturday's match, but Newcastle's season is still very much alive heading into Everton on Tuesday night (7:30pm kick-off).