It may not have been the ideal debut for Kalvin Phillips, but in the end it was a point well-earned for West Ham. Having gone behind to Dominic Solanke’s early opener, a goal which came thanks to a glaring error from their new arrival, James Ward-Prowse’s second-half penalty was enough to secure a hard-won draw.
As they emerged from the flurry of bubbles before kick-off, both sides set out to end a two-match winless run in the league. The visitors found themselves in a trickier spot after back-to-back defeats, while the hosts looked to shake off consecutive draws, though Bournemouth had at least barrelled through two rounds of the FA Cup in the interim. Andoni Iraola’s side have been among the league’s streakiest this season, starting so sluggishly, bursting into form and then hitting a brick wall against Tottenham and Liverpool. It looked as if they might have got a taste for victory again here, but West Ham had other ideas.