Of all the feet West Ham would have wished the ball to fall to, it was Jarrod Bowen’s.
One last golden chance, deep into stoppage time, to snatch a huge win in their bid for survival and heap pressure on to Nottingham Forest and Tottenham but their captain, so often their man for the biggest moments, blazed it over.
Their relegation rivals breathed a sigh of relief but even in this entertaining goalless draw against Bournemouth, West Ham showed they are more than up for the fight.
Daily Mail Sport’s JAMES SHARPE was at the London Stadium to soak up all the action…
Even in this entertaining goalless draw against Bournemouth, West Ham showed they are more than up for the fight
COMPETENCE AND CONFIDENCE
It’s been a while since anyone has been able to say this with any conviction but West Ham look a competent, functioning team again.
They were brilliant here against Manchester United, only denied a win by Benjamin Sesko’s last-minute stunner, and against the European-chasing Cherries they looked calm and confident.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side flew out the traps, winning a corner inside 13 seconds from which the excellent Axel Disasi saw a header cleared off the line, and barely relented. They attempted 20 shots, their most in a game since December 2024.
‘I was praying,’ said Nuno when asked what he was thinking when the ball fell to Bowen at the end. ‘I was thinking three points, happy days! That is the sadness we feel because it was almost there for us. We created so, so many chances. It was not to be.’
What is most impressive is how Nuno has transformed this defence. Gone are the nights of cavernous gaps all over the pitch and a feeling that any time the opposition got the ball near the West Ham goal, calamity would ensue. Even when Bournemouth piled on the pressure late on, a defence that has frequently crumbled showed some steel.
‘Everything starts from there,’ added Nuno. ‘You have to put your body on the line. You have to keep a clean sheet. We can always create chances because we have talent up front. We believe.’
In the short months since his appointment Nuno Espirito Santo has made West Ham look like a competent force
Taty Castellanos has been a particularly potent addition to the Hammers’ attacking ranks
RAYAN EYED RECORD
When Bournemouth’s biggest chances did come, it was of little surprise their teenage Brazilian sensation Rayan was at the heart of them.
The 19-year-old has been unstoppable since making his debut and was looking to become the first teenager to score or assist in his first four Premier League games.
He so nearly did. He broke away on the counter-attack, shrugged off two players before thundering a shot off the post. Later it needed a sensational sliding block from El Hadji Malick Diouf to deny Rayan from inside the box.
‘I value this point,’ said Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola, who watched the game from the stands as he served a touchline ban and often cut a frustrated figure tapping away messages on his phone to the dugout. ‘This is not an easy place to come. They need results and you could feel that from the beginning.’
SUMMERVILLE IN SPOTLIGHT
Ruud van Nistelrooy, the Netherlands assistant coach, was in attendance to keep a close eye on Crysencio Summerville.
The Hammers winger is in contention for a call up to Ronald Koeman’s squad for the upcoming games next month after a run of six goals in his previous seven matches.
Crysencio Summerville was monitored from the stands by Netherlands assistant coach Ruud van Nistelrooy
Van Nistelrooy will have been impressed with what he saw. Summerville so nearly added to his burgeoning goal tally inside the first five minutes, getting on the end of a stunning by Taty Castellanos but couldn’t beat Dorde Petrovic.
He had full-back Alex Jimenez on toast. At one point he dribbled past two defenders, including the same defender twice, before firing over the bar.
He, too, had a chance to win it late on but couldn’t get the ball out of his feet and was the man to slip in Bowen at the death.
