9 November 2024
West Ham 0 Everton 0
The Hammers have had a poor start to the season under their new manager. Not that Everton could turn up at the London Stadium with their chests out as they are still too close for comfort when it comes to the bottom three. On paper, this had the makings of a terrible game of football, but sometimes this league can surprise you when you least expect it to.
Lopetegui’s side started positively as Summerville broke and found Bowen. He looked to cross from the byline but Branthwaite covered well to block at the expense of a corner. As the resulting cross came in, Everton half-cleared. The Hammers looked to recycle it, but a poor pass from Wan-Bissaka was cut out and The Toffees looked to hit them on the counter.
Dyche’s side streamed forward with pace. Ndiaye spotted the run of Doucoure but the big midfielder just looked a bit too slow in his footwork and he gave Summerville the chance to slide in and block his shot as he finally pulled the trigger. It ballooned up into the air for Calvert-Lewin to strike a volley but it was troubling the fans behind the goal more than it was Fabianski.
Beto had been favoured to the striker of late but he had been demoted to the bench once again for this encounter. Neither of the two are in any sort of form in front of goal currently but you would lean towards the Portuguese striker if you were playing Football Manager as Everton currently. Either way, Sean Dyche thought differently for their trip to the capital.
Antonio muscled his way through the middle before playing it into the path of Bowen. He checked onto his right foot and thundered a shot at Pickford’s goal. Opting to try and beat him at his near post, the Everton keeper got a solid hand to it to send it behind for a corner. It was a first-half of very few chances at the London Stadium.
A misplaced pass from Tarkowski gifted the ball to Bowen. He twisted and turned as he tried to make some space, before slotting it into the path of Antonio. The angle was very tight but as he looked to shoot, Pickford closed him down and made another important block. It meant the two sides went in at the break with nothing between them.
After the interval, West Ham started brightly. Bowen picked up the ball in the middle and looked to try his luck from distance. His shot had Pickford scrambling across his goal but the effort dropped narrowly wide of the far post. It seemed to take a deflection on its way through which gave the hosts a corner but that sadly came to nothing.
The Hammers were asking the most questions of their opponents in this game. The Toffees defending was as questionable as ever. As the ball broke to Rodriguez, he drilled a curling shot towards goal which required a good save from the Everton keeper to deny him. It seemed he would take some beating for Lopetegui’s side to break this deadlock.
With half an hour remaining, The Toffees came forward for a rare attack. Mangala got to the byline before clipping a cross into the box. It was met by the head of Lindstrom but Fabianski reacted well to tip his effort over the crossbar. It was a big chance for Dyche’s side to take the lead, he just needed to direct his header either side of the keeper really.
Paqueta then played a defence-splitting pass right into the path of Summerville. With the goal at his mercy, he beat Pickford, only to see his effort come back off the post. The former Leeds Utd man was just inches away from giving his side the lead in this one. It seemed like it was going to be another one of those days for The Hammers.
A poor headed clearance from Branthwaite was seized upon by the hosts. Rodriquez looked to get a shot away from the edge of the box but it was blocked. It broke to Summerville who picked out Ings well at the back post. He checked inside onto his left foot and looked to bend one in the far corner. Pickford got down well and denied the hosts a goal once again.
As the game headed into added time, there seemed to be more empty seats than filled ones in the London Stadium. It is something I can never understand. Tickets are not cheap nowadays. How important is what you have to do that it warrants leaving a couple of minutes early from a match. When you see this, you hope there is a late goal so these people get their karma.
It almost happened as Ings tried his luck from the edge of the box. His effort took a deflection on the way through that seemed to add more zip to the shot. A world-class reaction save from Pickford saw him tip the shot over the bar to deny The Hammers a late winner. As a result, the points were shared in the capital. Dyche may owe his keeper a pint on the way home for this draw.
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