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Considering that both West Ham United and AFC Bournemouth have two of the poorest defensive records in the Premier League, few would have expected a nil-nil draw at the London Stadium.
But as Rayan hit the post for the visitors and Jarrod Bowen blazed one of the Hammers’ clearest opportunities high over the bar deep into stoppage time, the most unlikely of stalemates was the end result on Saturday evening.
A point really isn’t what the doctor ordered, either. Nottingham Forest can extend the gap between themselves and West Ham United to five points should they do the double over Liverpool on Sunday.
So close yet so far… 😮💨
What did you make of the stalemate with Bournemouth?
From a more positive slant, though, it is two clean sheets in three league games now for a side who had only one in 22 before the 2-0 win at Burnley.
Hammers News predicted that Axel Disasi could potentially open his Hammers account today, given Bournemouth are statistically the worst side in the league when defending set-pieces. And our prediction nearly came true less than a minute in as Djordje Petrovic denied him from a corner.
This, though, would be another game in which Axel Disasi barely put a foot wrong in the defensive third while threatening to break the deadlock in the other penalty area.
Jarrod Bowen praises Axel Disasi’s impact at West Ham United
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
Our Talking Point users argued that Disasi and Konstantinos Mavropanos should keep their place despite the return of Jean-Clair Todibo. They got their wish, and Nuno got a third clean sheet in four matches across all competitions.
To think, had Benjamin Sesko not converted that quarter-chance in the 96th minute last season, the Hammers would have kept four clean sheets in a row.
“You know what it’s like in this league,” Bowen told Sky Sports at full-time. “You can’t expect to score two or three goals every week and pick up results. We knew we needed to improve and change. And I think Axel has come in and been a really big presence.”
Bowen confident West Ham’s character will give them a fighting chance
Taty Castellanos produced another typically high-energy, high-pressing performance, albeit without a goal to show for his efforts. Bowen hailed Castellanos’ work-ethic almost immediately after his arrival, and he again encouraged a few roars from the home crowd when closing down Bournemouth’s backline at every opportunity.
“We tweaked a couple of things tactically and we look a lot better,” Bowen adds. “Defending starts from the number nine and goes to the wingers, midfielders, and defenders. We seem to be in a better structure. Today, we could have nicked one and won 1-0.
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“We’ve all got to continue stepping up. That’s the situation we find ourselves in. We know outside noise happens. Individually, it’s how you deal with that, and certainly as a group, we can take criticism from each other.
“It’s an important time to be criticising each other. We need people pointing fingers and people accepting that responsibility.
“I think we’ve seen a change in the last few weeks. We have to fight our way out of it, and we’ve certainly got enough characters; people who will grab you by the scruff of the neck when times are tough. That’s a pleasing thing in the changing room, when you can look next to you and go, ‘He’s got my back and I’ve got his.’”
Missed chances the story at the London Stadium
West Ham recorded an XG of 3.15, compared to Bournemouth’s 0.7. To suggest this was a bit of a robbery from Andoni Iraola’s side, though, would be to ignore the fact Rayan came closer than anyone with a rasping drive off the post.
El Hadji Malick Diouf dodged a VAR-fuelled penalty as well in the second-half.
“I thought we played with energy and created some chances. It’s a point but, I think at this stage, with where we are, we could have turned that into three points,” Bowen sighs. “We could’ve scored in the first minute from a corner, another corner, Tomas [Soucek] had one that was blocked that was going in, and I had [my chance] at the end.
“There were a lot of chances we could have turned into goals. Obviously, it’s a point and we take every point in the situation that we’re in, and we take the positives. You can look at it both ways; where we are in the league, we need points and results – that’s normal – but we need performances to go with it as well. We didn’t lose the game, and that’s important.
“I think we’ve had games this season where we’ve played okay and ended up losing from a late goal or a lapse in concentration. We had the chances to go and take three points, but where we are, we need confidence but also results.
“I see it as a little bit of both [a positive and a negative].”
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