Phillips endures awful start for West Ham as Ward-Prowse partly spares blushes
Kalvin Phillips endured a nightmare start to life at West Ham before James Ward-Prowse partly saved his blushes.
The England midfielder, making his first league start of the season after being loaned in from Manchester City, gifted Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke the opening goal inside three minutes with only his second touch in claret and blue.
But Ward-Prowse levelled from the penalty spot in the 61st minute to earn David Moyes’ stodgy and disjointed team a draw.
Phillips did shed some rust as the evening progressed. Yet he could not have had a worse beginning. Facing his own goal, the midfielder received possession from Kurt Zouma while already under severe pressure.
Zouma should not be free of criticism for playing his new team-mate into trouble. But Phillips’ pass back to goalkeeper Alphonse Areola was woefully under-hit and Solanke, who was initially flagged offside until a VAR check, gleefully intercepted and finished clinically with two minutes and 22 seconds on the clock.
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The Hammers had tried to sign Solanke last summer only to have a bid rejected by Bournemouth. And the Cherries’ valuation of the 26-year-old has risen steeply since, with this 13th goal of the campaign bringing him one behind Erling Haaland and Mo Salah in the golden boot race.
Andoni Iraola’s team, now harbouring clear ambitions of a top-half finish, continued to look the better team for the entire opening period. Lewis Cook was not far off the mark when trying his luck from 30 yards before Antoine Semenyo had a goalward attempt blocked by Dinos Mavropanos and Areola smothered a deflected effort from Ilia Zabarnyi.
West Ham were sloppy and after Edson Alvarez was pressed into coughing the ball up in the 35th minute Areola got a strong hand to deny Semenyo’s stinging effort. The hosts finally sprung to life seven minutes prior to the break when the head of Jarrod Bowen almost converted Ward-Prowse’s inswinging cross from the left.
Yet the fact Ward-Prowse was being used out wide summed up the lop-sided nature of the home team. With Lucas Paqueta still injured and both Pablo Fornals and Said Benrahma looking to complete transfers during the game, Moyes was left short of wide options.
Naming four central midfield players, none of them blessed with searing pace, appeared the biggest reason behind such an unstructured performance.
James Ward-Prowse of West Ham celebrates after scoring against Bournemouth with Emerson Palmieri and Kalvin Phillips.Conversely, every Bournemouth player looked sure of their place in the system. They pressed well and the defence was unruffled. Marcus Tavernier and the excellent Semenyo both went close to a second before the break.
But West Ham restarted with a greater sense of urgency as Ward-Prowse shifted centrally and Phillips moved to the left.
And the equaliser arrived from Ward-Prowse’s driven penalty after a lengthy VAR consultation that ended when referee Tim Robinson consulted the pitchside monitor and realised Lloyd Kelly had pulled Mohammed Kudus’ shoulder, bringing the Ghana attacker to the ground.
The Hammers looked marginally more likely to grab a winner but, equally, Bournemouth keeper Neto did not have much to do as both appeared satisfied to share the spoils.
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