Sunday 3 March 2019 09:33, UK
Rafa Benitez was disappointed with the mistakes Newcastle made in their defeat to West Ham on Saturday.
The Hammers moved up to ninth in the Premier League table with a comfortable 2-0 win over Newcastle at the London Stadium, courtesy of two goals that came about from set-pieces.
Declan Rice headed his second-ever West Ham goal from a right-wing corner before Javier Hernandez had been fouled for a penalty following a well-worked free-kick. Mark Noble netted his 22nd Premier League penalty to put the hosts well in command.
The Magpies failed to offer much attacking threat, although they did register 17 attempts on goal but rarely troubled the Lukasz Fabianski.
Benitez, whose team remain six points clear of the drop zone, was left frustrated with the defensive lapses.
"We made our own mistakes," he told Sky Sports.
"We started with a lack of concentration and we conceded two goals from set-pieces against a good team. It was the same situation that we had at home.
"We had to take the risks when we are losing and we were open. But still, we had 17 attempts and I think they were lucky in some of the situations. They were blocking some shots. But we're all really disappointed with the first half when we conceded two goals from set pieces.
"Both goals were poor. The first was a free-kick that we knew could happen and then we made the penalty so these mistakes against these teams with so much quality can be costly."
