Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez blames his team for making too many sloppy mistakes as they were beaten by West Ham United on Saturday.

The Magpies travelled to London in fine form after going on a three-match unbeaten run, but they were brought back down to earth this weekend.

Benitez’s men remain 14th in the Premier League table, while West Ham climbed up to ninth thanks to a 2-0 success at the London Stadium.

Goals from Declan Rice and Mark Noble meant Newcastle left the capital with nothing despite having 17 shots in the game. When asked about his team’s display, Benitez told Sky Sports: “We made our own mistakes.

“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.”

Newcastle remain six points clear of the drop zone thanks to their recent form and they are now as big as 29.00 to be relegated this season.