Bournemouth’s slick passing and intelligent running was easy on the eye, although the defensive lapses that enabled West Ham to stay in contention ensured a misleading scoreline. With injuries to Reece Oxford and Mauro Zarate, manager Slaven Bilic adopted a noticeably makeshift squad, with Kevin Nolan playing in an unfamiliar wide-right role.
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Beyond Wayne Rooney’s Manchester United goal drought stretching to a 10th game and Tottenham’s struggles, it was a landmark day for newcomer Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday.
Song’s performances dipped with the team’s as their pre-Christmas run faded in early 2015 – a dip which ultimately led to Bilic replacing Sam Allardyce as boss in the summer. So far West Ham have a net spend of less than £18 million and have lost their best player from last season in Stewart Downing. Wilson has had very little in the way of opportunities, and even less in the way of product.
But, much has been made of how Randolph fared against Bournemouth in the Championship last season.
“But the first goal, second goal and fourth goal were simply the ball being at our feet – it was our ball”.
“In the first two games I think there were nerves, but today I felt we showed real confidence”, the 23-year-old Wilson told the BBC.
Modibo Maiga hit back for West Ham in a tense finale which included six minutes of injury time. His final goal came from the penalty spot and ultimately secured the win.
“It’s very short-sighted to say he [Randolph] has a problem with Bournemouth”.
With Adrian suspended and West Ham still chasing QPR’s Rob Green, the Irons’ reserve keeper is set for his Premier League debut when the Cherries visit.
Still, Eddie Howe’s side retained their slick passing game and though Marc Pugh was denied by another Randolph save in the 66th minute the Bournemouth substitute was released by Gradel down the left. First, King felled Mark Noble in the box just two minutes after the restart and Noble stepped up to score from the spot before Diafra Sakho saw his shot saved by Artur Boruc and Cheikhou Kouyate followed up to equalise just five minutes later.
Song starred on a season-long loan at Upton Park last season and Bilic, whose side play Bournemouth on Saturday, is keen for the former Arsenal player to return before the September 1 transfer deadline.
The star signing is the victim of two separate factors.
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Despite the Black Cats dominating the opening exchanges, it was Swansea who broke the deadlock against the run of play, Bafetimbi Gomis netting his third goal in three games on the stroke of half-time. In each of the last three fixtures, he has never give Howe a reason to question his allegiance and if anything has been a stand-out for the Cherries.
