West Ham United vs Bournemouth. Premier League.
Upton ParkAttendance34,977.
Sunday 23 August 2015 07:31, UK
Callum Wilson hit a hat-trick as Bournemouth earned their first Premier League points in a thrilling 4-3 win against West Ham at Upton Park.
The striker scored twice to put his side 2-0 ahead at half-time and netted Bournemouth's fourth from the spot after Carl Jenkinson was sent off.
West Ham had battled back to 2-2 through a Mark Noble penalty and a Cheikhou Kouyate goal, but Mark Pugh restored Bournemouth's lead in the 66th minute.
Then came the late drama as Jenkinson saw red for a foul on Max Gradel with Wilson stroking home the penalty, before Modibo Maiga struck eight minutes from time to ensure a nervy finish.
For the neutrals watching, this pulsating game had everything - goals, a sending off, two penalties and end-to-end action, but for the two managers - Slaven Bilic and Eddie Howe - it must have been a horrible watch.
Both teams defended generously with the Hammers leading the way from kick-off. Aaron Cresswell lost possession out wide, giving Simon Francis the chance to pick out Wilson in the box.
The right-back's cross was met with a fierce side-foot finish from the Bournemouth striker leaving goalkeeper Darren Randolph no chance on his West Ham debut.
Cresswell was at fault again for the second goal. The left-back played a careless back pass into the path of Wilson who ruthlessly fired past Randolph.
Dismayed by his team's shocking defensive display, Bilic hauled Angelo Ogbonna off after 34 minutes and sent on James Tomkins to sure up the soft centre in the home defence.
The Croatian made another switch at the interval bringing Matt Jarvis on for Kevin Nolan and it appeared to have the desired effect as the home side found themselves level eight minutes into the second half.
The comeback started with a clumsy challenge from Josh King on Noble that gifted West Ham a penalty a minute after the restart. The midfielder dusted himself off to stroke the spot kick past Artur Boruc.
Sloppy defending cost Bournemouth again when they switched off at a throw-in, allowing Diafra Sakho time to turn and shoot in the box. Boruc did well to get down low to his right and beat it out, but there was nothing he could do about the rebound as Kouyate smashed the ball into the roof of the net.
With the crowd behind them West Ham pushed for a third, but back came Bournemouth. Gradel shrugged off Winston Reid before finding an unmarked Pugh inside the box. The midfielder kept his cool to sidestep a lunging Jenkinson and steer the Cherries back in front.
Things went from bad to worse for Jenkinson when he was sent off for pulling Gradel down in the box. From the resulting penalty Wilson completed his treble and put Bournemouth 4-2 ahead.
The scoring wasn't over as the Bournemouth defence opened their gates and waved Maiga through to score past Boruc. The Hammers frantically chased an equaliser, but the Cherries' rear guard stood firm to claim the points and consign West Ham to their second home defeat on the bounce.
Soccer Saturday verdict - Charlie Nicholas
Bournemouth proved to me and themselves that there is more to footballing philosophy and I hope that the majority of people that have seen this will be more inclined to focus on how attacking Bournemouth were, rather than criticise West Ham who were awful defensively.
We can pull plenty of holes in West Ham but it is impressive to go away from home and score four goals in the Premier League. They pushed Gradel up the left side and King was closer to Wilson and they got the full-backs quite high up the pitch. Wilson had pace and movement and the service supplied by Surman in midfield was wonderful.
I don't know what these West Ham fans expect. Bilic couldn't do a thing about this. It's dreadful defending, their passing was abysmal and it was awful. Yes, you'll hear frustration but if you boo them, they will shrink and don't want the ball.
Player ratings
West Ham: Randolph (5), Jenkinson (3), Reid (5), Ogbonna (5), Cresswell (4), Obiang (6), Noble (6), Kouyate (6), Nolan (5), Payet (6), Sakho (6)
Subs used: Tomkins (6), Jarvis (5), Maiga (6)
Bournemouth: Boruc (5), Francis (7), Cook (6), Elphick (6) (c), Surman (6), Gradel (8), Daniels (6), Wilson (9), King (6), Ritchie (6), O'Kane (6)
Subs used: Gosling (5), Pugh (7), Smith (6)
Man of the match: Callum Wilson
