West Ham United 1-1 Stoke City
WHUFC.com
West Ham United were denied all three Barclays Premier League points in
dramatic fashion at the Boleyn Ground on Saturday, as Marko Arnautovic
rifled home a Stoke City equaliser in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Aaron Cresswell's thumping first-half free-kick had earlier put Sam
Allardyce's men on course for a second successive league win at the Boleyn
Ground, only for the Austrian to have the final word.
Ironically, Arnautovic had earlier twice been denied an equaliser by the
linesman's flag, but it was third time lucky for the No10, as his angled
drive flew into the right-hand corner of Adrian's goal in the dying seconds.
West Ham had been much the quicker out of the blocks here and a
seventh-minute opener hardly came as a surprise. By then, Cheikhou Kouyate
had already threatened the Potters' goal, picking up the pieces from a Mark
Noble corner, before slamming right across the face of goal from an acute
angle.
Over to Cresswell. After Enner Valencia had been felled by Glenn Whelan, the
Ecuadorian, Noble and Cresswell all stood over the dead ball. Noble dummied
it and Cresswell bent a delicious left-footed free-kick into the top
right-hand corner. Expecting a right-footed effort, Asmir Begovic took
terminal steps to his right in anticipation and so failed to make up the
ground.
A goal to the good, still West Ham pressed. Diafra Sakho muscled his way
through a challenge on the right, before crossing for Carl Jenkinson. It was
as much as the full-back could do to chest it in the vague direction of
goal, but Begovic smothered.
With quarter-of-an-hour gone, Kouyate sought to double the Hammers'
advantage. The No8 dropped a shoulder in midfield and took aim, but opted to
side-foot it and the Bosnian stopper was comfortably down to his left to
gather.
At the other end, the Potters showed their hand for the first time. The ball
dropped invitingly for Jonathan Walters in the penalty box, who might have
troubled Adrian, but for a brilliant block from Winston Reid.
Fresh from his spectacular exploits at Chelsea, Charlie Adam clearly fancied
his chances here too. The Scot went for goal from a free-kick all of 35
yards from goal and though it curled wide, Adrian was sufficiently concerned
to scamper across his goal.
As the half ticked on, the visitors grew in confidence and mustered a half
chance or two of their own. Walters' effort from 18 yards rippled Adrian's
side netting, while a Victor Moses strike from the edge of the box did
likewise.
But it could easily have got worse for the Potters, as Valencia led the
breakout, he slipped in Kouyate who in turn dragged an effort well wide of
the left-hand upright.
It was a largely stop-start affair in the minutes after the interval, with
referee Roger East considerably busier than either 'keeper. Walters
collected a loose ball deep in Hammers territory but his strike looped a
good foot or two over Adrian's crossbar.
Meanwhile, Big Sam was forced into a change just shy of the hour mark, with
Carlton Cole replacing the injured Sakho, who appeared to be holding his
thigh as he departed.
With 69 gone, Arnautovic had the ball in the net for the Potters, racing
onto a through ball, before prodding into the far corner. The Autrian,
however, had long since been flagged offside and so celebrations in the away
end were swiftly curtailed.
Moments later and Begovic was back in business. Kouyate burst into the box,
as he regularly does these days, and his near-post stike looked to be
creeping in, but for the stopper's smart intervention.
Stoke, meanwhile, could hardly have come any closer to a levelller, as Biram
Diouf's well-directed header from a Stephen Ireland cross cannoned back off
Adrian's left-hand upright and out of harm's way.
Cole nodded a Stewart Downing cross wide of the far post late on, before
Arnautovic again saw an eqauliser ruled out for offisde, albeit this time in
stoppage time. Ireland squared for the Austrian who happily converted, only
to see his celebrations cut short yet again.
But as the clock ticked down the No10 surged past Reid and into the box
before drilling an inch-perfect drive into the far corner to earn Hughes'
men a share of the spoils.
West Ham United: Adrian, Jenkinson, Collins, Reid, Cresswell, Song (Nolan
68), Noble (c), Kouyate, Downing, Valencia (Amalfitano 78), Sakho (Cole 59)
Subs: Jaaskelainen, O'Brien, Nolan, Jarvis, Nene
Goal: Cresswell 7
Bookings: Collins, Nolan, Cole
Stoke City: Begovic, Cameron, Shawcross (c), Wollscheid, Wilson (Pieters
49), Whelan (Ireland 67), N'Zonzi, Moses (Diouf 44), Adam, Arnautovic,
Walters
Subs: Butland, Bardsley, Sidwell, Crouch
Goal: Arnautovic 90+5
Bookings: Pieters
Referee: Roger East
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Bittersweet afternoon for Cresswell
WHUFC.com
Aaron Cresswell endured a bittersweet afternoon on Saturday as his second
goal for West Ham United failed to yield a home victory against Stoke City.
It looked for so long that the left back's seventh minute strike would be
sufficient for a maximum point haul, until Marko Arnautovic levelled right
at the end of second half stoppage time. The leveller took the shine off his
fine strike as the No3 admitted it was a disappointed dressing room at the
final whistle. "It's very disappointing for us," he said. "We're in the lead
with two minutes to go and we let in the equaliser. Just before that too we
were a bit sloppy and they had the offside goal ruled out which on another
day could have been given, so of course we're very disappointed. "The most
disappointing thing was that we couldn't push on after going 1-0 up and
score a second. We just needed that second goal either at the end of the
first half or halfway through the second. "It didn't come, so you just have
to be professional and hold on to the 1-0 and play rough and dirty if that's
the case to get that 1-0." "It wasn't to be and they got the equaliser in
the last minute. I can't really put a finger on why there have been a few
late goals recently. "It's us not staying switched on to the very end. It's
Man United, Tottenham and now today so it's very disappointing not to get
the three points, because if we had held on in those, we'd be quite high
up." Cresswell's opener came right from the top drawer and he revealed the
dead ball came straight from the training ground. He continued: "Back in the
early days I scored a few free kicks but I don't think I scored many for
Ipswich. "Thankfully for me Nobes ran over it and it sort of put the keeper
off and it went in the top scorer. "We worked on the free kick in training
and obviously it's paid off today. Nobes has stepped up looking like he's
going to take it and the keeper has sort of fallen for it, leaving that side
of it for me to put it in. "Thankfully for me it's gone in the net but it is
very disappointing that we haven't got the three points."
The Hammers travel to Manchester City next with Cresswell hoping to complete
an unexpected double. He added: "Manchester City would be a good place to
get back to winning ways. We know it's going to be a tough place to go to,
but we've got to stay positive. "We've got six games left and we want to
finish as high up the table as we can."
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From the Boardroom - David Gold
WHUFC.com
Joint Chairman David Gold believes there are positives to take going in to
the Stoke City game...
I don't think last Saturday's defeat at Leicester will affect our season one
bit. I think we will come out against Stoke and you'll see a different
attitude with our home crowd behind us.
No disrespect to Leicester but Stoke are a better team than them but having
said that there's no reason why we won't beat them.
I know the players and Sam and the backroom staff well enough that they are
not going to allow our team to already 'be on the beach'. They've got a
great will to win and that has not and will not change.
I thought that individually there were some brilliant performances at
Leicester. Adrian was brilliant at saving the penalty. Cheik Kouyate was
outstanding and he is a class player.
Remember we are now starting to think about the future and next season and
the way in which we are building. When you look around we only need to
change a very few things and I think we will be a major force to be reckoned
with.
David Gold
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Late goal insult and injuries frustrate manager
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce admitted West Ham United's inability to see games out is
becoming a serious problem after Saturday's 1-1 Barclays Premier League draw
with Stoke City. For the fourth time in the last nine league matches, the
Hammers allowed points to slip through their fingers by conceding an
avoidable late goal. This time, a throw-in four minutes into added time was
hurled aimlessly into the Stoke half, from where the Potters launched a long
ball forward that was flicked on to Marko Arnautovic, and the Austrian
finished low past Adrian. For Big Sam, whose side had led since Aaron
Cresswell's outstanding free-kick on eleven minutes, the sight of yet
another late show from the opposition was almost too much to bear. "Again,
we were in the final throes and final few seconds where just needed a bit of
experience, guile and composure to see the game out and we didn't get that,"
he observed. "Because we didn't get that, instead of having possession of
the ball in the opposition half, we gave the ball away, they punted it up
the middle and won the knockdown and, from there, it was a very good piece
of skill from Arnautovic.
"No doubt, we should have blocked it out by keeping possession in the
opposition half and seeing the game out and that, for us, is another massive
blow on the basis of what has happened previously to us. "Last week at
Leicester it was 1-1, should have taken the point and they scored in the
88th minute. Nine games ago, Man United equalised and Tottenham got a
penalty in the final seconds of the game. That's seven points in the last
nine games we have thrown away in less than two or three minutes. "Instead
of sitting on a very confident and buoyant 50 points, we are thinking that
is where we should be and that's very disappointing. We have to handle this
situation that we've allowed ourselves into far too often. "A little bit of
panic set in, but a bit more composure from the many experienced players we
had out there meant we should have been able to handle it. We went 1-0 up
with a fantastic goal and a fantastic start to the game, so for us it was a
real cruel blow at that stage of the game."
Much earlier, West Ham started well, going ahead when Cresswell bent a
fantastic free-kick into Asmir Begovic's top corner. From then on, however,
Stoke held the upper hand, having two goals disallowed and seeing Mame Biram
Diouf hit the inside of the post with a header. At the other end, the
Hammers huffed and puffed but could not work Begovic often enough, with
substitute Carlton Cole coming closest by heading Stewart Downing's cross
wide on his 250th league appearance for the Club. "We haven't done enough to
create a little bit more," the manager continued. "What we needed was a
clinical finish from somebody to ease the pressure and that was Carlton's
header, because that would have killed the opposition off. "Stoke were
taking chances and committing men forward, but we didn't convert our chances
and ultimately we got the massive knock-back by losing a goal with only 30
seconds to go. "It was a terrific free-kick from Aaron, which should have
been the winner but unfortunately it wasn't."
To added injuries to the insult of Arnautovic's late goal, Big Sam also
suffered the sight of watching Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho hobble off
with foot and thigh injuries respectively - both of which will be assessed
further on Monday. "Enner was never going to be able to play the full 90
minutes, but he got a kick as well and we're hoping it won't be enough to
keep him out for next week, because Diafra will definitely be missing. If
it's a thigh strain, depending on what grade it is, it could two weeks or it
could be him missing the rest of this season, but we will wait and see.
"That leaves us very short on the front line with Andy being out, and means
goals will be fewer and farther between than they used to be, so if we don't
get that defensive side right then the last six games are going to be tough
for us."
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Sam Allardyce angered after West Ham's late lapse
Last Updated: 11/04/15 11:05pm
SSN
Sam Allardyce says West Ham have thrown away seven points from their last
nine games after conceding a late equaliser to Stoke. Sam Allardyce was
reading from a familiar script as he saw his side concede a 95th minute
equaliser against Stoke City to throw away two more points. It had appeared
that Aaron Cresswell's early free-kick would see West Ham over the line but
Marko Arnautovic - who had seen two other efforts disallowed for offside -
kept his head to find the bottom corner in the final minute. West Ham have
now won just once in 11 games and Allardyce said: "It's bewildering at the
moment, since Manchester United we have thrown seven points away in the
final seconds of the game. "You tally those up, that's 50 points, looking
good and it's a really good season, but throwing this one away is bitterly
disappointing. "The lads showed a lot of nerves, and it was a very good goal
from Stoke but it is difficult to take. We have to be more capable of seeing
the game out."
Allardyce is out of contract in the summer, with the club's owners yet to
decide in which direction they want to take West Ham ahead of their move to
the Olympic Stadium. The 60-year-old, though, intends to remain professional
in his approach over the final matches of a campaign which had earlier
promised so much. "It depends on what you say. Do you say what is the
overall season like? It should be 50 points, it should be very, very good.
It is small margins of victories to draws and draws to defeat," Allardyce
added. "In the judgement at the end of the season, or if not what happens
before that, then we talk about what we are doing going forwards. "We are
still on course to beat the best points record we have had, but we are
making it hugely difficult for ourselves now when we really should be
coasting instead of looking forward to every game we are playing."
Senegal forward Sakho limped off in the second half, and if the problem
proves serious, he might not recover before the end of the campaign.
Allardyce said: "If it is a grade one off the scan, then it could be two to
three weeks, if it is more, then you would be lucky to see him again this
season, which is a massive blow but we have to deal with it."
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Stewart Downing urges West Ham to keep Sam Allardyce as their manager
Last Updated: 11/04/15 10:56pm
SSN
Stewart Downing wants Sam Allardyce to remain as manager of West Ham next
season but accepts that Saturday's draw at home to Stoke will not have
helped his cause. The Hammers conceded a late equaliser and are now ninth in
the table but, despite securing the club's Premier League status for another
season, Allardyce's position at Upton Park is not safe. However, he has the
support of winger Downing who says: "We'd like him to stay. We don't know
what the situation is. "It's going to be resolved at the end of the season
as he said yesterday I think. The only thing we can do is win games. "This
puts him in a stronger position to keep his job. Obviously he is
disappointed today because wins help. Losing games and drawing games
probably won't help him. "Like I said, we are disappointed today. Whatever
will be will be at the end of the season. I'm sure he'll want to get it
sorted as soon as he can."
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West Ham's Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia injured against Stoke
Last Updated: 11/04/15 11:05pm
SSN
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce faces an anxious couple of days before finding
out if leading scorer Diafra Sakho will play again this season.
Sakho, who has scored 10 goals in his debut Premier League season, limped
off with a thigh injury just before the hour mark against Stoke, a game the
Hammers drew 1-1 after conceding a goal to Marko Arnautovic deep into added
time. He will have a scan on the problem on Monday, while Enner Valencia is
also being monitored after he came off 12 minutes from time with a foot
injury. Allardyce said: "Enner was never going to be able to play the full
90 minutes, but he got a kick as well and we're hoping it won't be enough to
keep him out for next week, because Diafra will definitely be missing. "If
it's a thigh strain, depending on what grade it is, it could be two weeks or
it could be him missing the rest of this season, but we will wait and see.
"That leaves us very short on the front line with Andy (Carroll) being out,
and means goals will be fewer and farther between than they used to be, so
if we don't get that defensive side right then the last six games are going
to be tough for us."
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