West Ham won their first league game at the Olympic stadium with a 1-0 victory over Bournemouth thanks to an Antonio goal setup by Gokhan Tore.
Advertisement
Bilic was delighted with the win, which ended any doubts about the wisdom of West Ham’s move away from Upton Park.
Indeed, chances certainly came at a premium.
Defender Steve Cook told the club’s website: “The sending-off was huge – it changed the game”. And the Cherries went even closer when Joshua King’s piledriver was acrobatically tipped over by Adrian.
“West Ham United condemn unreservedly the behaviour of a small minority of individuals in an isolated incident following the fixture against AFC Bournemouth”, West Ham officials told Mirror Football.
Bournemouth looked set to take a point from a dour encounter until Harry Arter was sent off for a second yellow card with 12 minutes remaining.
King nearly equalised in injury-time when he saw a close-range shot kept out by Adrian, before Calleri raced clear, only to shoot wide.
“It wasn’t a good game but if we’re talking about character and team spirit, nobody can say we didn’t deserve it”, Bilic said. We know the rules, we are well drilled. The guys did brilliantly.
“We just deserved it”.
Still, Ibe is just 20 and rich in promise, as are so many in Howe’s team, but the manager will want to get some points on the board soon to banish any worries over second-season jitters in the top flight. “We’re delighted to end the first game at this handsome stadium with a win and a clean sheet”. It was going to swing on a moment of brilliance or a mistake. As long as we are winning and they are going home happy they are going to pack this stadium. It’s been drilled into us. I think the chairmen are going to be very generous, if we can find a proper one, but a proper one is very hard to find. “Unfortunately we fell victim to that”.
Advertisement
It is expected that Dimitri Payet, who was so sorely missed, and Manuel Lanzini will return for next weekend’s trip to Manchester City, if not the critical Europa League tie here on Thursday against the -Romanians of Astra Giurgiu.
