16 December 2024
Bournemouth 1 West Ham 1
The Cherries are thriving this season under Andoni Iraola, there is even talk of qualifying for Europe. Despite his slow start when he took over, the owners showed faith in him and it is starting to pay dividends. Bournemouth lost Solanke in the summer and many wondered how they would cope without him, turns out the answer was ‘pretty well’.
West Ham have not made the greatest of starts under their new man and Julen Lopetegui has been under a lot of scrutiny from all corners. David Moyes left big shoes to fill but the fans are demanding, even a European trophy was not enough to win them over for the Scot. They needed to start finding their feet and improving on their lowly league position.
Iraola’s side were in confident mood from the kick-off. Evanilson and Kluivert linked up well to create a shooting chance for Semenyo. His effort clipped the outside of the far post, so close to giving The Cherries the breakthrough. His performances this season have seen him linked with some big teams, scouts are watching him most weeks now.
Another player who has taken time to settle in at the Vitality Stadium and the Premier League in general is Kluivert. He has really hit the ground running this season and he has formed a formidable attack with Semenyo and Evanilson. Iraola will be wanting to keep this trio fighting fit for the rest of the season, they are integral to his cause.
As an attack broke down for the hosts, West Ham played some neat football to transition from defence to attack. Kudus ran through the middle before playing a defence-splitting pass to Bowen. He checked back onto his left foot and looked to bend one past the keeper. The shot rattled the crossbar and went over.
Bournemouth then created the best chance of the first half. Semenyo drilled a cross to the back post where he spotted Ouattara in acres of space. He was four yards out, the entire stadium was resigned to the fact it was a goal. However, Fabianski threw himself in his direction and made a superb block with his legs to keep the scores level.
The sides went into the break all square. The hosts will feel they just edged the first-half and deserved to be in front. West Ham only created the one chance but all too often, that is all Bowen needs to score. With the quality both sides have, it was hard to call a winner in this one. Now it was over to the managers to inspire their players.
Into the second-half and The Cherries were pressing once again. They forced a corner and as it was knocked into the near post, Evanilson met the cross with a glancing header. It flew towards goal but Fabianski reacted well to claw it out. The Hammers’ stopper had kept his side in this game and he was beginning to infuriate the hosts.
At this stage, West Ham were clinging on for dear life. Billing saw his shot blocked but the ball dropped kindly to Christie. He worked some space before unleashing a shot but once again a full-stretch Fabianski denied him. The Cherries got another shot away from the edge of the box as the visitors struggled to clear their lines but it was blocked.
West Ham almost hit Iraola’s side with a sucker punch when they countered. Wan-Bissaka did well to win the ball back and lifted a tempting cross into the middle. Fullkrug rose to head it but Kepa made a good reaction save to keep the powerful effort out. Neither side looked like their clean sheet was a given as their goals were threatened.
VAR was then checking an incident in the build-up to The Hammers’ headed effort. They sent the referee to the monitor and he deemed that the Bournemouth defender handled the ball. With only three minutes of normal time remaining, Paqueta stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way as he calmly stroked it into the back of the net.
The away end erupted as they felt surely, they had won this game. West Ham had been under immense pressure for large periods of this game but it looked like they had ground out an important result. Lopetegui’s side just had to stay resolute and hold onto what they had, as easy as that you would think. The Cherries would not give up that easily you felt.
With the 90 minutes up, the referee awarded a free-kick to the hosts some 25-yards out, slightly wide of the goal. Surely no danger here to worry about. Substitute Unal was stood over it. He struck a sublime effort that arrowed into the far corner with Fabianski finally beaten. There was nothing he, or anyone else, could do to keep this stunner out.
The Vitality Stadium erupted as they salvaged a point from the jaws of defeat. It was no more than they had deserved, for large periods of the game, they were the better team. For West Ham, it was an important result, they showed the rest of the league that this nut is not so easy to crack anymore. It will have pleased the manager to see a solidity to his side when put under pressure.
After all, both Arsenal and Man City had come a cropper against Bournemouth this season on the south coast. The Cherries moved to sixth in the table, they do not get enough credit for what an achievement that is. Iraola knows the table is tight and they need to stay focussed on the long-haul. West Ham have the comfort of a seven-point gap from the bottom three now.
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