Hammers closer to safety after draw
LONDON: West Ham United substitute Andy Carroll netted a late equaliser to snatch a 11 draw at home to Stoke City yesterday that moved the London side a step closer to English Premier League safety and left the visiting team facing the drop.
Stoke thought it had secured all three points and its first away win since October when substitute Peter Crouch knocked a loose ball into the back of the net after West Ham’s England goalkeeper Joe Hart spilled a shot after 79 minutes.
But West Ham showed all its fighting qualities as it rescued a point in added time when Carroll volleyed a cross from Aaron Cresswell past Jack Butland into the corner of the net.
West Ham will count itself unlucky not to have won after having three goals disallowed in the second half, but the victory means it now stands seven points clear of the bottom three, while Stoke is five points adrift of the safety zone.
‘‘I thought we played well throughout,’’ Carroll said.
‘‘Obviously Crouchy came on and scored, which is what he does best, and it was disappointing for us because we’d had a few chances and a couple of goals disallowed.
‘‘We took points off them, though, and it’s a point for us, so it’s a good result in the end.’’
Disappointed Stoke manager Paul Lambert refused to give up the battle to beat relegation, saying: ‘‘I still think we need three wins. If we can get a little break on Sunday against Burnley, we’re certainly in with a fight’’.
After West Ham’s crucial home win over Southampton and a wellearned point at Chelsea, David Moyes’ side was in confident mood and could have broken the deadlock after 55 minutes, when former Stoke forward Marko Arnautovic directed a powerful header past Butland but was given offside.
The Hammers were denied a goal once again after 67 minutes when Edimilson Fernandes struck a powerful shot that flew past Butland but his effort was also ruled out, with Arnautovic standing right in front of the unsighted Stoke keeper.
Stoke opened the scoring after a moment to forget for World Cup hopeful Hart in front of watching England manager Gareth Southgate, as he failed to hold a shot from Xherdan Shaqiri and Crouch was in the right place to convert from closerange.
But West Ham refused to lie down and Carroll, missing for the past 13 games through injury, showed his quality when Cresswell delivered a perfect ball into his path and the former Liverpool forward fired an unstoppable volley past Butland.
West Ham was again denied by the linesman’s flag moments later when Javier Hernandez struck the ball past Butland, but Carroll was adjudged to have handled inside the area.
‘‘I tried to bring the ball down and it hits my hand a little bit,’’ Carroll said. ‘‘If it’s a shove in the back, it’s a penalty, but we played on and he [referee Michael Oliver] didn’t give it and, in the end, it’s a point, so we’ll take it.’’ — Reuters