Hammers Continue Unbeaten Monday Run

West Ham United may have failed to get the result they would have wanted in the Monday night encounter against AFC Bournemouth at The Vitality Stadium but they would have been pleased to come away from the South Coast with a point in a 1-1 draw with the Cherries.

Julen Lopetegui made two changes from the home game against Wolverhampton Wanderers a week ago, as Vladimír Coufal replaced the suspended Emerson Palmieri, while Crysencio Summerville dropped to the bench in favour of Lucas Paquetá. Also amongst the substitutes were youngsters Luis Guilherme, Oliver Scarles, Kaelan Casey and Lewis Orford.

Having won their last encounter, the visitors were keen to continue a busy month by trying to see if they could pick up another win here and they made a bright start with Coufal and Paquetá trying their luck but not being able to get their attempts on target.

The Czech defender was never going to test Chelsea loanee Kepa Arrizabalaga in the hosts’ goal, while Paquetá had his attempt blocked by Milos Kerkez.

Ryan Christie then went close for Andoni Iraola’s men but a timely intervention from Carlos Soler prevented the Scotsman from beating Łukasz Fabiański.

Then, a great move from the home side involving Antoine Semenyo, Evanilson and Justin Kluivert resulted in the former Bristol City player hitting the post.

West Ham were dominating proceedings by this point and had chances to go in front. Max Kilman’s header took a deflection off home skipper Adam Smith. Minutes later, the Hammers’ Captain Jarrod Bowen saw his cracking 25-yard shot come off the crossbar after played in by Mohammed Kudus.

The same combination almost paid dividends for Lopetegui’s men again, as Bowen evaded the attentions of Illia Zabarnyi and forced Arrizabalaga into a superb save.

Another West Ham team move set up a further chance as Soler and Paquetá combined but unfortunately, the Brazilian was unable to finish the chance off.

Just before the break, the Irons had another opportunity but Dango Ouattara got in the way of Tomáš Souček’s shot.

Ouattara had a chance of his own just seconds later when Semenyo’s shot dropped invitingly for him. Thankfully for the East Londoners though, the shot was kept out by Fabiański.

When referee Christopher Kavanagh blew for half-time, Lopetegui’s message to his team would have been for them not to let their intensity drop. However, the trouble was that Iraola’s men came out firing.

The frantic nature of the contest continued into the second-half and the West Ham defence had to survive an onslaught of pressure from the hosts but thankfully they did, as they looked to add another three points to their tally.

Lopetegui was the first of the two bosses to make a change, as Niclas Füllkrug replaced Soler with fifty six minutes gone, as it was thought that the German would give the Cherries something different to think about. Well, his introduction certainly had an impact, as he sent a header narrowly wide.

Shortly after, both Edson Álvarez and Konstantinos Mavropanos went close but neither player could beat Arrizabalaga. Up the other end, Kudus was through on goal and about to release the ball but before he could, Zabarnyi produced a superb block.

Both sides were piling on the pressure and Fabiański had to perform heroics again to tip Evanilson’s header away.

Two more changes were introduced by the Irons, as both Scarles and Summerville came on for Kudus and Álvarez.

With nine minutes of normal time to play, Iraola made a double change by throwing on Enes Ünal and Philip Billing for Kluivert and Evanilson.

Billing was straight into the action, as the former Huddersfield Town man, together with Christie, had their shots blocked by a combination of Kilman and Fabiański.

Suddenly, there was drama. On eighty five minutes, Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s cross hit the arm of Tyler Adams and broke for Füllkrug. Kavanagh initially signalled for play to continue but after Arrizabalaga had denied the striker only a second goal for the Hammers, play was brought back and a lengthy VAR check took place and Kavanagh was advised to review his original decision and eventually awarded the visitors a penalty.

Paquetá stepped up to the spot and confidently sent Arrizabalaga the wrong way to delight those who had made the journey from the East End.

You would have thought that Lopetegui’s men had grabbed all three points. However, there was a twist. Mavropanos committed a needless foul on Ünal and Kavanagh awarded a free-kick.

It was a blow for the travelling support, as Fabiański was powerless to keep the effort out meaning deep into the eight minutes of stoppage time, they had to come to terms with only getting a point from an encounter that would have yielded all three.

Incredibly, both sides could have found a winner. Coufal had one more chance for the visitors but unfortunately, his attempt was blocked. Then Fabiański came to his team’s rescue, as Ouattara was again thwarted.

There was just time for Casey to be introduced by West Ham, as he took the place of Wan-Bissaka.

In the final match before Christmas last year, the Hammers produced a brilliant performance to earn a home win against Manchester United. Can they produce something similar against Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday afternoon?