West Ham Utd 1-1 Bournemouth

  • by Staff Writer
  • Saturday, 20th January 2018

West Ham United's unbeaten record extended to seven games in all competitions - although United had to settle for a point at home to Bournemouth this afternoon.

The Cherries' Ryan Fraser may have thought he'd won the game for the visitors, when he scored the opening goal 19 minutes from the end of normal time - only for substitute Javier Hernandez to equalise for United straight from the restart, just 11 seconds later.

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Following a well-met minute's applause for England and Albion striker Cyrille Regis, who died last week, David Moyes' injury-ravaged team looked determined to right the wrongs of the 3-3 draw at Dean Court on Boxing Day when they were denied all three points in the final seconds of the game.

The Hammers showed no signs of being under-strength and were well on top from the word go, with Aaron Cresswell, Mark Noble and Pedro Obiang all going close before Cherries 'keeper Asmir Begovic produced a fingertip save in the 14th minute to deny Marko Arnautovic - the best chance for either side in an opening 45 minutes in which blows were otherwise evenly traded.

The second half was following a similar pattern before West Ham suffered a huge blow when Manu Lanzini was forced to retire through injury with little more than an hour played. His replacement, Javier Hernandez had barely touched the ball before Bournemouth took the lead a few minutes later.

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It was perhaps no surprise to any long-suffering West Ham supporter that 'one of our own' came back to haunt us; Junior Stanislas, developed by Tony Carr's team at Chadwell Heath made 47 appearances for United before being deemed surplus to requirements in 2011.

Today it was his delivery that set up Ryan Fraser for a clever finish to Adrian's right side, as the visitors found the net from their first shot on target with just 19 minutes of normal time remaining - a goal that the 2,000-strong travelling support celebrated as if it were the winner. (And why not?)

But West Ham, unbeaten since the defeat at home to Newcastle prior to Christmas had other ideas - and just 11 seconds after referee Martin Atkinson restarted the match, substitute Hernandez fired home from close range, as he has done so many times over the years, to raise the roof at the Olympic Stadium and draw United level.

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That should have set the game up for what is occasionally referred to as 'a grandstand finish', but West Ham barely registered a shot at goal thereafter and whilst Bournemouth did, Eddie Howe's team likewise failed to seriously troubled Adrian's goal.

And so it was that both sides had to settle for a point each, which was probably just about right on the day - if slightly disappointing perhaps from a West Ham perspective, if only as a consequence of the injustice that occurred in the highly-controversial, corresponding fixture last month.

Whilst a win would have seen West Ham leapfrog Watford and into the top half of the table for the first time this year, the point ensures they remain 11th in the Premier League - a considerable improvement on the first third of the season, but progress nonetheless threatened by the absurd number of injuries that continue to pile up and apparent lack of movement in the transfer market.

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West Ham Utd: Adrian, Zabaleta, Collins, Ogbonna, Cresswell (Byram 90), Masuaku, Obiang, Kouyate (Rice 90), Noble, Lanzini (Hernandez 64), Arnautovic.

Subs not used: Hart, Burke, Cullen, Martinez.

Goals: Chicharito (73).

Booked: Collins (31), Masuaku (49), Ogbonna (58).

AFC Bournemouth: Begovic, Francis, S Cook, Ake, Daniels, Fraser (King 85), Gosling, Smith, L Cook, Ibe (Stanislas 62), Wilson.

Subs not used: Boruc, Surman, Mousset, Simpson, Frazer Taylor.

Goals: Fraser (72).

Booked: Gosling (52).

Referee: Martin Atkinson.

Tickets Sold: 56,948.

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