A KING FOR A DAY
Howe about that? Joshua rules with hat-trick but only after Cherries so nearly abdicate
FORGET the running man of West Ham, this absurd and wonderful match belonged to the first king of Bournemouth. And so did the ball.
It wasn’t a beautiful hat-trick, more a hodge-podge of finishes from the scrappy to the neat to the downright fortunate.
But combined, those three Joshua King goals added up to so much more than the sum of their parts, given what they might mean to Bournemouth, a club that has coughed and spluttered through 2017 and had drifted a dangerous way south.
Going winless since December 31 was an awfully bad look at a place where such an onus is placed on attractive football, but the count has stopped on eight Premier League matches, with the ninth yielding a victory in something of a mid-table classic.
There were two missed penalties for Bournemouth, a lead held by West Ham and a lead given away seven minutes from time by their hosts.
But ultimately this delightfully weird game undulated to a correct conclusion, with King completing his hat-trick in stoppage time to give the Cherries a deserved win.
No-one among West Ham’s number could reasonably complain, given the lifelessness of their performance, with the notable exception of Michail Antonio.
It was the English forward who gave West Ham the early lead at the end of a week in which he was celebrated by Slaven Bilic as his master of sprints. At the very least, the nine-goal frontman seems to be timing his run for England selection to perfection. But he was largely acting in isolation for West Ham, who now have only one win in six and must answer questions about their defensive frailties on all three goals here. They are comfortable in 11th place, but there is justifiable concern at a rearguard that numerically ranks as the fifth worst in the division.
Bilic was plainly unhappy, saying: ‘It was a game that had everything. It is frustrating to lose, especially when you score two away from home. You expect from there to go home with something, so it is very disappointing to concede the third.
‘At 2-2 we should have been more composed at the back. We weren’t. There is still a long way to go and we have to secure our status.’
For Eddie Howe, it was a day to savour. The slump has weighed heavily on Bournemouth’s boss, who still maintains his club are not clear of the relegation muck.
Against that backdrop, this win was hugely significant. It helps immeasurably that he has a striker in form, with King now on 11 goals for the season, with eight coming in his past seven games.
Howe said: ‘The win has felt like a very long time coming. It has been really difficult. Now we need to get to 40 points as quickly as we can. There is no complacency.’
On King, he added: ‘It is about confidence. He has always had the ability. He has pace, strength, technical ability and it was a case of putting them together. Since we have worked with him he has shown a great attitude every day to improve and he has done that.’
It might have been better for King seeing as it was he who missed the first of his side’s penalties after eight minutes, following Sofiane Feghouli’s foul on Charlie Daniels. The kick went wide and 48 seconds later West Ham were ahead.
Antonio, the only change to the West Ham side beaten by Chelsea, got the goal after Harry Arter carelessly gave the ball to Feghouli on the edge of his area. He played forward to Antonio, whose first touch made space next to Simon Francis and his second was a precise shot past Artur Boruc.
Bournemouth responded by pounding West Ham before King levelled on 31 minutes, finishing on the turn after taking a pass from Benik Afobe and looping the ball over Jose Fonte. That was the best of his bunch. Five minutes later Afobe missed Bournemouth’s next penalty after Marc Pugh was tripped by Fonte, but King put Bournemouth ahead three minutes into the second half.
There was a whiff of handball as Steve Cook headed a Ryan Fraser free-kick against Afobe, before the ricochet fell kindly to King — but Bilic accepted there had been no error from the officials.
It seemed Bournemouth’s game, but the first twist was West Ham’s brilliant leveller from Andre Ayew, before the second came from King, poaching the winner as the game hit stoppage time. A performance worthy of the name.