CRESS’D FALLEN
Howe: ‘no excuses’ after Wilson blooper lets Hammers back in to pinch a point
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, ■ Bournemouth are unbeaten in six Premier League matches against West Ham United (W3 D3 L0) since losing 1-0 in August 2016. 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. ■ West Ham are unbeaten in six away Premier League games (W3 D3), after losing seven of the eight before that (D1). ■ West Ham attacker Andriy Yarmolenko has netted three goals in his last four Premier League games, one more than in his previous 11. ■ Josh King has had a hand in 56 Premier League goals for Bournemouth, seven more than any other player.