Owen hat-trick bursts West Ham's bubble

English FA Premiership / West Ham 2-4 Newcastle: The 1966 World Cup was won, to a fair degree, on the playing fields of West Ham, given the contributions of Geoff Hurst, Bobby Moore and Martin Peters.

On Saturday West Ham supporters were offered a glimpse of how England might win the World Cup in 2006 but this time the clue was provided by an opponent.

Michael Owen's first hat-trick since joining Newcastle United was scored in circumstances less demanding than those he will encounter in Germany in the summer. Each of the goals was partly a consequence of feeble defending.

Alan Pardew, the West Ham manager, did not go overboard about the Newcastle striker's performance. "Owen's influence on the game was not great but his chances came and he took them." When a player scores three of his team's four goals and sets up another - for Alan Shearer - it is hard to argue his influence has been peripheral.

Maybe Pardew was referring to Owen's relative lack of involvement in the overall play but that is often the way with specialist scorers. "He was the difference today, along with Alan Shearer," said Graeme Souness, the Newcastle manager. "Michael is a proven goalscorer at every level and we've missed him when he has been out."

In the eight matches Owen has started Newcastle have gained 19 points and scored 14 times. In nine without him they picked up six and scored four.

The best all-round contribution was provided by Shearer, who in moving West Ham's defenders around, laying the ball off, linking the play, creating opportunities and, eventually, scoring himself, challenged another of Pardew's assertions, namely "I can't think of a time when Newcastle were in control of the game".

Shearer it was who provided the return pass for Owen to score after five minutes. Owen returned the compliment for Newcastle's third, just past the hour, which brought Shearer to within one goal of equalling Jackie Milburn's club record of 200. In between times, with Newcastle's defence looking as ill organised as their opponents', Titus Bramble's attempt to clear a low centre from Marlon Harewood rebounded into the net off Nolberto Solano before Owen restored their lead with header from Solano's free-kick.

But for some inspired saves from Shay Given, the post that denied Hayden Mullins a goal soon after half-time and a goalmouth clearance, from James Collins, by the busy Shearer, West Ham would probably have won.

As it was an aberrant handball by Shola Ameobi, reaching up to pat away a free-kick from Paul Konchesky, brought them back into the contest at 3-2 and subjected Newcastle to a fraught final 17 minutes once Harewood had put the penalty away. Souness' team did not breathe easily until stoppage time when, with Roy Carroll out of goal after advancing upfield, Owen was given a tap-in by Amdy Faye's pass.

Guardian Service