West Ham battle back in seesaw draw at Bournemouth

West Ham did well to eventually level up the game against a motivated counterattacking Bournemouth side. Here’s how the match played out.

The teamsheet was unchanged from West Ham’s win over Manchester United. This includes a start for Pablo Fornals in Manuel Lanzini’s place due to his injury, but to the happiness of Hammers everywhere, Lanzini did make the bench.

It took just over ten minutes for the Irons to stamp the match thanks to some supreme build up attacking play. A Felipe Anderson cross would find a stretched out Sebastien Haller. The Frenchman would perfectly poke the ball to the overlapped Andriy Yarmolenko who turned on Nathan Ake and curled the ball into the back of Ramsdale’s net.

The play was phenomenal. West Ham looked great in possession for the entire match and the strike at ten minutes ensured a quick and poignant start for the Hammers. That being said, Bournemouth would level up the match seven minutes later.

The Bournemouth opener would come from a short corner kick that was sent back to the fullback Rico, who then sent in the attacking line of Cherries players. The ball luckily bounded off Ake’s knee to an unmarked King who popped it in the net. The flag was originally raised for offside but VAR would right the official’s incorrect call.

Fair play to Bournemouth who executed their play to perfection. West Ham fell asleep defensively and were taken advantage of by King, who loves to score against West Ham. The match would go to half time level, with West Ham having the majority of the ball and the chances.

The biggest concern in this match was the injury to Lukasz Fabianski. West Ham’s undisputed best player dropped after a goal kick holding his hip/groin and was helped off not under his own power. Roberto came on to replace him, but we all need this to be a short-term injury for the season’s sake.

The second half would start at an atrocious rate for the Hammers. Callum Wilson’s perfectly timed run saw him in on goal and he made no mistake just seconds after kickoff. It was poor defending by the Hammers and a goal they simply cannot allow in an open match.

West Ham would dominate the match until the final whistle, corralling the majority of possession and getting a bunch of chances on goal. The game would finally break the Hammers way in the 74th minute as Aaron Cresswell finished off a beautiful play between Andriy Yarmolenko and Felipe Anderson.

Cresswell, the goalscoring hero against Manchester United, followed up a cross-pitch long ball that Anderson dropped on a platter for him, unmarked, in the box. Cress banged it hard and on goal, but a deflection would make sure the keeper had no chance on it.

Overall, the point away from home was well taken by the Hammers. The goals were more given to the Cherries instead of earned, which means the issues can be fixed. The unbeaten streak by the Hammers extends to six matches and the goals are continuously coming for the Hammers. All we need now is Fabianski to be okay.