You never know when Bournemouth will lose. Seconds after West Ham took an unexpected lead with a controversial penalty, substitute Enes Unal curled an unstoppable free-kick into the top corner. Bournemouth's other substitute, Tyler Adams, was penalized for handling Aaron Wan-Bissaka's cross from the right, and the subsequent spot-kick was converted by Lucas Paqueta and was awarded after a VAR review. Ta.
Lopetegui insisted the elation of a welcome home win over Wolves has been forgotten as West Ham aim to win back-to-back league titles for the first time this season. The West Ham manager made two changes, one of which was Emerson's suspension, with Wan-Bissaka shifting to left-back and Vladimir Coufal starting at right-back. Lucas Paqueta was a surprise addition in place of Crisencio Somerville, who was not doing well.
West Ham players wear black armbands in honor of former Academy goalkeeper Oscar Fairs, who died aged 15, and in the 9th minute, an away supporter miraculously died in a car accident earlier this month. They chanted the name of the surviving number 9, Michail Antonio. They visited Antonio over the weekend in hospital in London, where he is expected to be sidelined for at least a year. It was a nice touch for Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola to join in the applause rippling through the stadium, despite being absorbed in the frenzy of the game.
From the moment Ryan Christie held off Mohamed Kudus within 13 seconds, this was a frenzied affair. Milos Kerkes scored for Bournemouth with an early corner near the end of his trademark storming run from full-back. Bournemouth had their first chance of note in the 12th minute when Antoine Semenyo sent a ball that ricocheted off the post. The move came from a ball downfield from Kepa Arrizabalaga. Semenyo beats Wan-Bissaka with a header, Evanilson beats Konstantinos Mavropanos, the loose ball was headed in by Justin Kluivert and into the path of Semenyo, who got over the ball and hit the post with his right foot. Ta. That chance appears to have shocked West Ham. Just before the interval, Lukasz Fabianski parried Dango Ouattara's meek shot at the back post.
Continuing the theme of the past few weeks, Lopetegui was left disappointed as West Ham failed to make the most of their chances. The West Ham captain dropped Ilya Zabalny and Lewis Cook from a Kudus through ball to create room for a shot on goal, before Jarrod Bowen spun on his heel as he curled a deft left-footed shot against the crossbar. . Bowen forced another fine save after Kudus crossed towards the front post. Bowen's first touch took it away from Zabalny, leaving him with an awkward angle to play, but still forcing him to make an instinctive save.
Lopetegui arched his back after Carlos Soler fired a right-footed shot past Bournemouth captain Adam Smith, but it went just wide of the far post. After a failed clearance by Dean Huisen and Kerkes, Soucek fired a shot wide of the target under pressure from Ouattara.
The second half was difficult from West Ham's point of view. Bournemouth returned to their usual endearing intensity and West Ham had to survive some scares and stay under pressure along the way. Ouattara's shot from a short corner in the second minute of the restart went wide, allowing Fabianski to set up Semenyo's goal. Christie had no such problems with his conviction, and Evanilsson's sharp left-footed shot from the lay-off provoked a save from the right-hander. The bad news for West Ham was that there were still over 40 minutes of game time left.
Lopetegui seemed to be aware of this as well, and Niklas Fürkrug was appointed in place of Soler, who was immediately alarmed. West Ham needed to stem the tide. Maximilian Kilman, who performed well as a centre-back, made a vital interception, shuffling across Evanilsson's backheel and blocking Semenyo's shot after Bournemouth had accelerated up the field. Zabalny then headed wide from a recycled corner. Meanwhile, West Ham's creativity was running dry.
In the second half, when West Ham had a rare glimpse of a Bournemouth goal, Zabalny was quick on the scene and snuffed out the danger. After Fürkrug made a pass through to Kudus, Zabalny threw his body to the floor for a timely intervention. Fabianski did well in the closing stages to stop Evan Wilson's header from Christie's corner kick at the front post and push it into safety, but West Ham were concentrating on getting the ball out rather than attacking the opposition. Ta.
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Lopetegui's change to a back five and giving Olly Scarless his Premier League debut and second first-team appearance was indicative of that plan.
They scored a league-high 10 points in the final 15 minutes of the game (including five in stoppage time), making it seem like a dangerous game against a slow scoring team. Substitute Enes Unal canceled out Paqueta's penalty by firing a powerful free-kick from 30 yards into the top left corner.
