It consigned Bournemouth to back-to-back defeats in their first two Premier League matches (and nearly a year to the day after they came to Upton Park and won 4-3 with a Callum Wilson hat-trick) and changed the dynamic for West Ham who are now up and running.
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Cherries midfielder Harry Arter was sent off in the 75th minute after picking up two cheap bookings, leaving the relegation favourites undermanned for a vital final 15 minutes.
So it is onward for West Ham in their new stadium.
Hammers fans will hope that the off-field excitement is replicated on the field, where Feghouli could form a mouth-watering attacking trident with Dimitri Payet and Manuel Lanzini. The win moved West Ham, who lost their opening game at Chelsea, up to 10th on three points.
That opened up space at the back and seven minutes later Antonio rose at the far post to head home a beautifully flighted cross from Gokhan Tore.
The Hammers survived a late Bournemouth raid when both King and Simon Francis saw efforts blocked, while substitute, Jonathan Calleri, should have put the contest out of reach, firing the wrong side of an upright after racing clear.
His goal ensured a welcome victory for West Ham, who have…
West Ham boss Slaven Bilic was pleased to get off the mark at home. Is it a proper home?
“It’s like a snowball so now hopefully we stopped it – with a great team spirit”.
Deprived of Dimitri Payet’s creativity and Andy Carroll’s aggression, West Ham’s tired players looked equally unsure of themselves.
West Ham United will take on Astra Giurgiu in their Europa League play-off at the London Stadium on Thursday, August 25 with kick-off at 7:45pm BST.
“[Payet] was okay and then he felt something against Chelsea, after the game”, he said.
“With Andy and Andre, they are more long-term injuries”.
“We aren’t just going to get wins given”.
Arter’s first yellow was for dissent – as officials crack down on players arguing decisions – and Howe was not best pleased with his player.
“It was a tight game, I thought there was nothing in it, it was a game of few chances”, Howe added.
“We’ve all been told about that (the crackdown on dissent)”.
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“I’m going to speak to the Chairman and our Head of Recruitment on Monday morning and if we can get one, it has to be a good one”. It wasn’t a great game of football, we didn’t’ expect to play like Brazil because we were missing four out of six of our [creative] players. To score the first ever Prem goal here, what can I say?
