Premier League GW22 - West Ham vs Bournemouth

West Ham vs Bournemouth | Picture Credits: Premier League Website

West Ham and Bournemouth met in a pivotal Premier League match at the London Stadium. Both sides were motivated to win points that would affect their league positions. Bournemouth wanted to build on their recent FA Cup win, while the Hammers wanted to get past a disappointing draw with Sheffield United.

Second Half: VAR Drama and Ward-Prowse's Equalizer

A contentious incident occurred in the 60th minute of the second half. When Lloyd Kelly fouled Mohammed Kudus, the referee's call was overturned by a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) check, giving West Ham a penalty. James Ward-Prowse came on and levelled the score at 1-1 with a strong strike down the middle that sent Neto the wrong way.

Points Shared, Missed Opportunities for West Ham

Despite high expectations, Bournemouth and West Ham ended up sharing the points in the match. The Hammers fought their way back into the game after a slow start and an early blow from Solanke, resulting in a 1-1 tie. Moyes' team is still in sixth place despite missing an opportunity to take advantage of Aston Villa's error. Conversely, Bournemouth's winless run against West Ham was extended to six games. Bournemouth gets ready to welcome Nottingham Forest as West Ham is set to take on Manchester United in their upcoming matchup. Fans at the London Stadium are excitedly anticipating the next installment of this Premier League story after an emotional rollercoaster of a show.

First Half: Solanke's Early Strike and Areola's Heroics

With Bournemouth taking an early lead in the third minute, the game took an unexpected turn. Due to rookie Kalvin Phillips' mishap during possession, Dominic Solanke was able to get the ball and put it past Alphonse Areola with ease. The goal was first declared offside, but VAR intervention showed Phillips made the final touch, enabling the goal to stand.

In the fifth minute, Bournemouth had a chance to double their advantage but Senesi's shot went narrowly over the crossbar. In the 36th minute, Areola demonstrated his ability to stop shots by stopping Semenyo and prevented Bournemouth from increasing their advantage. West Ham steadily gained momentum in the game despite their rocky beginning, but they ended the half behind 1-0.

With Bournemouth leading 1-0 thanks to Dominic Solanke's 13th goal of the year, Areola's vital save kept West Ham in the game. To motivate his team, David Moyes needed to put in more work, particularly in the midfield area where Bournemouth's press revealed weaknesses.

West Ham:

With West Ham not playing in the FA Cup fourth round last weekend, the team had much-needed time to regroup after suffering to a disheartening late draw against Sheffield United. However, after losing their past four games before today, David Moyes' team will be hoping for a quick response. Fans heading to the London Stadium tonight will be eager to see three points from those who remain in the squad as their team looks to put pressure on Aston Villa in fifth place after their Tuesday loss to Newcastle. It has been a busy day for transfers out of the team.

Bournemouth:

Bournemouth, on the other hand, will be feeling quite confident going into this match after defeating Swansea 5-0 last Thursday in the FA Cup fifth round. Conversely, the Cherries have dropped their last two Premier League encounters and have not triumphed over the Hammers in their previous five meetings (D2, L3). After the Cottagers and Everton drew 0-0 on Tuesday, Andoni Iraola's team would move up to 12th place and beyond Fulham with a victory tonight.

Line ups:

WEST HAM (4-3-2-1): Alphonse Areola; Ben Johnson, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Kurt Zouma, Emerson; Kalvin Phillips, Tomas Soucek, Edson Alvarez; Mohammed Kudus, James Ward-Prowse; Jarrod Bowen.

WEST HAM SUBS: Lukasz Fabianski, Divin Mubama, Angelo Ogbonna, Kaelan Casey, Aaron Cresswell, Lewis Orford, Oliver Scarles, Danny Ings, Maxwel Cornet.

BOURNEMOUTH (4-2-3-1): Neto; Adam Smith, Illia Zabarnyi, Marcos Senesi, Lloyd Kelly; Lewis Cook, Ryan Christie; Antoine Semenyo, Adam Scott, Marcus Tavernier; Dominic Solanke.

BOURNEMOUTH SUBS: Mark Travers, Philip Billing, Max Kinsey-Wellings, Luis Sinisterra, Chris Mepham, Gavin Kilkenny, Milos Kerkez, Justin Kluivert, Romain Faivre.

London Stadium | Picture Credits: SportsPro Media

Solanke scored within 3 minutes as the game started and gave Bournemouth a 1-0 lead | Picture Credits: Premier League Website

Ward-Prowse scored a goal through penalty and levelled the score to 1-1 | Picture Credits: Premier League Website