West Ham United have come from behind to rescue a point in 1-1 draw with Bournemouth at the London Stadium on Thursday night.
In a game of few clear-cut chances, Dominic Solanke tucked away his 13th Premier League goal of the season inside the first three minutes to put a lively Cherries outfit ahead against a lacklustre Hammers side, who struggled to impose themselves on the contest.
West Ham managed to restore parity just after the hour mark when James Ward-Prowse converted from the penalty spot, but groans echoed around the London Stadium as the Hammers played out their third successive Premier League draw.
The draw for David Moyes's men represents their fifth game in a row without a victory across all competitions, but they remain sixth in the top-flight table, seven points behind the top four.
As for Andoni Iraola's side, they managed to avoid a third successive Premier League defeat and they stay put in 12th place in the table, eight points above the relegation zone and nine points adrift of the European positions.
The headline team news prior to kickoff came from the Hammers as Moyes decided to hand January loan signing Kalvin Phillips his full debut, but the midfielder – starting just his third Premier League game since the summer of 2022 – endured a nightmare start which led to the opening goal for Bournemouth in the third minute.
After receiving a sloppy past from West Ham captain Kurt Zouma on the edge of his own penalty area, Phillips was caught in possession, under pressure by Ryan Christie, and gifted the ball to Solanke who slotted the Cherries in front with a simple tap-in.
Clear-cut chances were at a premium in the opening half hour, but it was Bournemouth who carried the majority of the attacking threat, much to the frustration of the West Ham faithful.
Bournemouth should have doubled their advantage on the 36-minute mark when Solanke teed up Antoine Semenyo in space inside the penalty area, but the Ghanaian's strike was denied by a strong one-handed save from Alphonse Areola – a huge let-off for the Hammers.
Areola then kept out a low-driven shot from Marcus Tavernier, but the goal would not have stood anyway as Solanke was caught offside in the build-up, before the French shot-stopper used his fingertips to divert a powerful shot from Semenyo over the crossbar following a dangerous looking Cherries counter-attack.
West Ham dominated possession in the closing stages of the first half, but they were lacking ideas in the final third and Bournemouth were comfortable dealing with any deliveries pumped into their penalty area.
The Hammers did not come out of the blocks after the interval and made a fairly flat start to the second half, but they gradually grew into the contest and began to look a threat from set-pieces; Ward-Prowse picked out Tomas Soucek with an inviting free kick in the 53rd minute, but the Czech midfielder was unable to generate any power on his header that floated wide.
Approaching the hour mark, Mohammed Kudus looked to be the man who could provide a much-needed spark for the Hammers in the final third, and his injection of place down from the right flank into the penalty box drew a clumsy foul from Lloyd Kelly, whose challenge was initially waved away by on-field referee Tim Robinson before VAR intervened and the spot kick was awarded.
Ward-Prowse stepped up and placed his effort from 12 yards straight down the middle, scoring his second penalty in as many matches and his fourth goal of the season to restore parity for the Hammers.
Bournemouth responded well and Kelly almost redeemed himself as he made a surging run down the left before fizzing an effort towards Areola, before Christie swivelled and poked a left-footed strike narrowly wide of the far post from the edge of the box.
Phillips's West Ham debut came to an end in the 68th minute and the Hammers faithful gave him a sympathetic applause as he made way for Danny Ings, with Moyes opting to throw on an extra attacker in search of a late winner.
For all their neat, technical football in the second half, Bournemouth struggled to create many clear-cut chances, but they continued to pose a threat on the counter-attack, while West Ham were sloppy in possession and were hanging on during the eight minutes of second-half stoppage time.
Both sides were eventually forced to share the spoils, with Bournemouth leaving the field the happier of the two teams, and while they will now shift their attention to next Sunday's home clash with Nottingham Forest, West Ham will seek to make improvements in their next fixture against Manchester United at Old Trafford. body check tags ::
