Hammers’ brief bubble of optimism bursts as they miss glorious chance
IF ANYBODY was still in any doubt over what the old phrase “the West Ham way” means then they only needed to look at this performance and result.
Just a week after beating Chelsea and with the chance to give themselves some breathing space at the bottom of the Premier League, the Hammers fell to a defeat that leaves them once again sitting precariously above the relegation zone.
West Ham never like to do things the easy way and it seems they are intent on making survival in the top flight as difficult as possible.
Nick Pope made some good saves for Burnley and James Tarkowski should have been sent off for a foul on Jarrod Bowen, but West Ham can only blame themselves for a lacklustre performance and missed chances.
“It’s a red card,” said West Ham manager David Moyes on Tarkowski’s challenge. “It’s not going to change the result now, but it’s really disappointing the referee didn’t see it, the linesman was close and then you’ve got the chance to go to VAR. It’s gone now, but I think it’s right it’s brought up and asked why it wasn’t given.”
Incident
On the Tarkowski incident, Burnley manager Sean Dyche added: “I’m presuming that’s what VAR is there for. Did their players appeal for it? I can’t remember.”
Having improved after the firsthalf drinks break and seen Tomas Soucek force an excellent save from Pope, West Ham fell behind in the 38th minute thanks to some sloppy defending and a slice of luck for the visitors.
Charlie Taylor was not closed down by Ryan Fredericks and he swung a cross into the penalty area, where Jay Rodriguez ran in front of Aaron Creswell and the ball bounced off his shoulder and into the net via the underside of the crossbar.
Michail Antonio squandered a superb opportunity to get the Hammers straight back on level terms, as the forward hit the outside of Pope’s post after being sent through.
Burnley substitute Chris Wood momentarily thought he had sealed the three points with 14 minutes remaining, but he was rightly called offside before sliding Phil Bardsley’s cross into the net.
West Ham threw bodies forward during six minutes of stoppage time, but Burnley held on to move up to ninth and Dyche said: “Our two centre-halves were outstanding and the ’keeper was outstanding. They asked a lot of questions, had a couple of golden moments, and our ’keeper was there when needed.” (© Daily Telegraph, London)