Unal free kick denies Hammers all three points

Bournemouth 1 West Ham 1

West Ham are playing for the third Monday in a row so it's sitting in front of Sky for the trip to the Vitality Stadium. There's no Todibo in the squad and Emerson is suspended so Coufal comes in at right-back, while Summerville is once again on the bench. Jarrod Bowen is playing as the main striker in the absence of Antonio.

The ninth minute sees another round of applause for Antonio, with the home fans joining in. Early on there's a warning as the dangerous Semenyo gets through on the right to shave the post. But West Ham have the better of the first half as Alvarez and Soler start to control midfield. Coufal has a nosebleed when a shooting chance arrives and blazes wide. Kudus' fine burst from his own half finds Bowen, who cleverly stops in front of the retreating defenders and chips a shot on to the angle of post and bar. Soler shoots narrowly wide and Bowen does well to turn and power in a shot that is parried by Kepa.

Before the break the Cherries have a great chance as Semenyo's shot is deflected to Quattara, who is foiled by a great save with his feet from Fabianski. But it's been a reasonably good first half against an in-form side and for once the defence is looking solid, with Kilman doing well.

The second half sees Bournemouth step it up and pepper the West Ham goal. Fabianski has to make a great save to tip over Evanilson's header from a corner. The 39-year-old keeper also has to parry stinging shots from Billing and Christie as the ball pinballs in the box. At the other end only a great tackle prevents Kudus from scoring.

Loppy brings on Fullkrug, Summerville and Ollie Scarles. With 85 minutes on the clock Wan-Bissaka picks up a loose ball on the right and makes a determined dash for the line, chipping in a fine cross that Fullkrug heads straight at Kepa. The big German got plenty of power in the header but couldn't direct it.

Then VAR intervenes. Wan-Bissaka's cross has brushed the hand of Tyler Adams and it's a penalty. This is technically correct, though it's the sort of pedantic soft penalty that is only picked up since the advent of VAR. Lucas Paqueta remains as cool as the Fonz and rolls the spot kick home with Kepa diving the wrong way. Paqueta runs over to embrace Lopetegui in response to reports that he wants to return to Brazil.

All West Ham have to do is defend solidly and not do anything silly. But we've reckoned without a rash challenge from Dinos Mavropanos who kicks through the back of a Bournemouth player. Still, what could possibly go wrong against a side that hasn't scores a direct free kick since 2019? Almost inevitably sub Unal curls a sumptuous free kick into the top corner.

My West Ham WhatsApp group is not happy with Dinos, with The Gav calling it a "clumsy unnecessary foul", Big Sam saying that he is "always a mistake waiting to happen" and the Vicar's Son wanting to excommunicate Konstantinos. A shame, as he'd had a decent game up to that moment. Dinos really needs coaching help with his decision-making.

There's a nervous eight minutes of added time to endure as the home crowd sense a winner. It's good to see young Casey get three minutes of action and thankfully the Irons hold on to the point. 

Still, a draw was probably a fair result and it was good to see the indefatigable Vladimir Coufal get in a solid 90 minutes. WHU have got a point away to the side that is currently sixth. We're unbeaten in two games, which is pretty good for this season. If West Ham can now get results against Brighton and Southampton then we'd be on a nice run. Irons!