West Ham United vs Stoke City. Premier League.
London StadiumAttendance56,970.
Monday 7 November 2016 20:38, UK
Stoke preserved their unbeaten run with a little help from Adrian as the West Ham goalkeeper gifted them a 1-1 draw in east London.
City substitute Bojan took full advantage of Adrian's impetuosity to volley an equaliser (75) after a Glenn Whelan own-goal (65) threatened to give the Hammers a third straight home win that looked unlikely for long periods.
Stoke - six without defeat now - were the better side for the first hour and it took a Slaven Bilic reshuffle to give his side any consistent menace, Michail Antonio being sent from wing-back to auxiliary centre-forward in tandem with young substitute Ashley Fletcher.
Until that point, the disjointed action on the pitch would scarcely have proved a distraction to the police officers newly installed inside the London Stadium in the wake of last month's EFL Cup trouble. Bar some routine finger-jabbing between stewards and persistent standers there was little in the stands to exercise them, either.
Denied the artistry of absentee show-stealers Xherdan Shaqiri and Marko Arnautovic, Stoke reverted to a more robust approach, with the muscle of Jon Walters in support of Wilfried Bony.
Bony's presence and willingness to accept the ball to feet gave the visitors a first-half outlet the isolated Andre Ayew - on his first home start - could not provide West Ham, though he should have done better when a Walters cross presented him with the opportunity of a third goal in two games.
The Ivorian's back-heel gave Charlie Adam a half-chance while West Ham, though lacking any fluency, did test Lee Grant through Angelo Ogbonna's header and also saw a Dimitri Payet free-kick just clear the Stoke goal.
The second half initially brought more of the forgettable same until Phil Bardsley - implementing his own shoot-on-sight policy - fired in a 40-yarder to go with two outrageously ambitious first-half volleys.
Bilic, like most in the ground, had seen enough and made a double change that gave his side a double-pronged attack and freed up space for Payet.
It was West Ham's star turn who delivered the goal, as Antonio met his whipped cross with a header that nicked Whelan's shoulder on its way in. Antonio may yet argue the toss with the Premier League; on first glance it appeared a legitimate sixth headed goal of the season for the England man.
There was no doubting the scorer of the equaliser, though Walters and a reluctant Adrian will compete for the assist. Racing needlessly from his goal, the Spaniard succeeded only in clattering Walters as the Irishman lifted the ball over his head. A penalty would surely have followed had Bojan not mopped up in neat style.
It might have got worse for Adrian, too, but his unconvincing attempt at keeping out Adam's free-kick just about smuggled the ball round the post.
Player ratings
West Ham Adrian (4) Kouyate (6) Collins (6) Ogbonna (6) Antonio (6) Noble (5) Obiang (6) Cresswell (6) Lanzini (5) Ayew (5) Payet (7).
Subs used: Feghouli (5), Fletcher (6), Fernandes (5).
Stoke Grant (7) Bardsley (6) Shawcross (6) M.Indi (6) Pieters (6) Whelan (6) Adam (7) Walters (6) Allen (6) Sobhi (6) Bony (6)
Subs used: Diouf (5) Crouch (6) Bojan (6)
Man of the match: Charlie Adam
