A late Michail Antonio header ensured that West Ham United emerged victorious from their first ever Premier League fixture at the London Stadium on Sunday (21 August).
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Impressive Turkey winger Tore baffled Adam Smith with some nifty footwork before lofting a cross to the far post, where Antonio rose highest to head home from close-range.
Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe was left to rue the fact that Harry Arter had fallen foul of the new clampdown on answering back to referees after the midfielder was shown a second yellow card for a foul after earlier being booked for dissent.
“Arsenal were struggling at the Emirates and then it’s like a snowball, so now hopefully we have stopped it and we have got three points, well deserved, clean sheet and great team spirit and great team effort”.
In the day’s other game, Cristhian Stuani netted a stunning brace as Middlesbrough beat local rival Sunderland 2-1 to register a first victory since securing promotion from the Championship.
Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith described the atmosphere as “flat” to Sky Sports in reference to the atmosphere during West Ham’s Premier League bow in the Stratford-based arena and he is not the only one to have commented.
“It was an awesome game and the feeling of getting on the scoresheet and [to] get the first ever Premier League goal here, what can I say?”
“So add on top of that it’s our first game [at London Stadium], if we didn’t win people would start asking questions”.
West Ham then needed a reaction save from goalkeeper Adrian followed by a clearance from near the goal-line to preserve their first league win at the team’s new home.
Burke was included in the side for the Hammers’ Europa League clash with Astra Giurgiu last Thursday, and he has now committed his future to the club until 2020. “You can’t let that stuff affect you”, he said.
“The sending-off was huge – it changed the game”, Bournemouth defender Steve Cook said.
Burke continued: “This season for me, another loan move may happen for me”. “We need to be disciplined and keep 11 players on the pitch”.
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The plan is for the capacity to eventually return to 60,000, but only when West Ham can prove they are sufficiently managing the issue.
