PLUCKY OWLS GIVE MONK SWEET REVENGE
CALLUM WILSON is in the form of his life after smashing a sixth goal in his last four Premier League outings.
But in truth those stats should have read SEVEN in FOUR at the final whistle as the Bournemouth striker missed an absolute sitter midway through the second half.
Had Wilson scored it would have put Eddie Howe’s hosts 3-1 up – and out of sight.
And just seconds later the visitors equalised and the England ace was cursing his failure to beat Hammers sub keeper Roberto in a one-on-one.
Eddie Howe (below), who was involved in a heated exchange with opposite number Manuel Pellegrini at the end, admitted
Wilson’s moment of wastefulness cost Bournemouth a fourth successive league win.
The Cherries boss, whose side are seventh on 11 points, said: “It was a good chance from a really good team move.
“My only thought was he could have squared it to Josh King or Harry Wilson, who were running in. That would have been an easier thing to do.
“But he’s taken it on as he’s in a confident mood. Their keeper has made a good save.
“But that doesn’t mean we have to concede at the other end. It’s no excuse for doing that.
“We’d showed good character to get 2-1 ahead and that was the key spell of the game.
“Could we get a two-goal cushion? We didn’t. That let West Ham back in.”
The Hamme r s bounced back from their Carabao Cup 4-0 humiliation at Oxford United in midweek by flying out of the blocks. And they were rewarded when the best player on the pitch, the edge of the top six, and awayday glory couldn’t have come at a better ground.
Teesside chief Steve Gibson sacked Monk in December 2017 after a 26-game spell and a big spending spree, and the pair are now involved in an off-field tussle over transfers.
Boro are investigating deals done when Monk was in charge, and he denies any wrong-doing, with both sides threatening legal action.
But Monk said of Boro, Andriy Yarmolenko struck in the 10th minute, curling in a beauty for his third of the season.
But if that opener was all about class and skill, the Cherries equaliser seven minutes later was more about VAR chaos.
The linesman initially flagged for offside when Josh King fired in at the far post, but as the referee’s whistle went after the ball had gone in, Stockley Park were able to intervene and rule there had been no infringement.
Bournemouth’s cause was furthered by Hammers keeper Lukasz Fabianski hobbling off with a hip injury before the break.
Until yesterday, the Pole had not conceded in 343 minutes. Roberto, however, was picking out the ball after only 12. A brilliant run from Dominic Solanke in the first minute of the second half led to Wilson spinning and rocketing low into the bottom corner.
Had he doubled his tal ly when clean through on 73 minutes there would have been no way back for the Londoners.
But almost immediately the Hammers were making him pay by scoring against the run of play.
Once again Yarmolenko played a huge part. The Ukrainian’s cross was nodded down by Felipe Anderson for Aaron Cresswell to thrash in the equaliser via a wicked deflection.
Both sides had more chances in a frantic end-to-end finale – with Howe unhappy Cresswell’s tug on King inside the box did not result in a spot-kick. and the allegations: “That chapter is closed. If any of that was true I don’t think I’d be sat here today.
“I’ve always been fully committed, honest and a hard worker.”
As for his side’s performance, Monk (right) added: “They’ve set a standard in terms of the quality they can produce and how devastating they can be. That’s what we have to fight for. We were ruthless. We were devastating.
“I looked at Middlesbrough and just felt there was a vulnerability on crosses. You can work on it all week though, you still have to go and deliver it in the game. We did that.”
Wednesday got off to a dream start.
Adam Clayton skewered Barry Bannan’s corner into his own net leaving Darren Randolph stranded.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Bannan’s second set-piece, an in-swinging delivery from a right-wing free-kick, had Boro scrambling, and Dominic Iorfa dived in front of Dael Fry to head home.
The Owls were pegged back briefly as Paddy McNair rifled in from the edge of the box after a Boro corner.
But it was a first half of MIDDLESBRO SHEFFWED 2 ........ Shots on Target .........6 6 ........Shots off Target .........4 5 ................Corners .................6 10................. Fouls.................. 19 0 ...............Offsides ................ 0 76.5 ..Passing Success % .. 75.9 353....... Total Passes ......... 316 53.1 .........Possession ........ 46.9 44.1 ..Territorial Adv % .. 55.9 chaos in the home defence.
Ex-Boro kid Adam Reach drifted across the back four on to a weighted pass from Atdhe Nuhiu and pinged a shot into the left corner for the third. It was four for Wednesday not long after, a simple Reach cross to the back post nodded in by Steven Fletcher, who out-jumped Fry.
Boro were lethargic and lacked aggression, and were equally hapless in front of goal.
Britt Assombalonga missed two great chances after the break.
Boro boss Jonathan Woodgate said: “It is not good enough at all. It was sloppy. It was terrible. We have to move on. I’m really disappointed but we play again on Tuesday.
“I have played a few games at centre half. You pride yourself on winning aerial battles. You have to find a way.
“I need players who will do the dirty work.”