It's a 7.30pm kick-off for some reason so it's a dash to Hackney Wick for fireworks and flames before kick-off. The team that meets in caffs has made it from an over-stretched Best Cafe, consisting of Nigel still in Christmas jumper, legendary bassist CQ, Big Sam, Matt and Lisa.
Nuno starts Wilson for once. Strikers? We remember them. Brighton's Minteh heads a cross into the hands of Areola in an early alarm, but the Hammers start with good intensity. On ten minutes Paqueta plays a typical through ball, Bowen looks to have taken a heavy touch but cleverly nicks the ball past Verbruggen. That's the start we needed.
For half an hour the Hammers play pretty well and Scarles, who is doing well after his Fulham mishap, sends a decent chance wide. But Minteh's speed is a threat and when Fernades misses a clearance Kilman is exposed and the winger goes over his dangled leg. Nigel's favourite player 'Stan' Welbeck makes it 1-1 from the penalty spot as he scores yet again against WHU.
Two minutes later it's another penalty when Paqueta drags down Dunk as a corner comes in. It's pretty stupid to do this right in front of the referee, though perhaps Paqueta didn't realise he was so isolated and it happens at every set-piece these days. Nuno should surely tell Lucas never to enter his own box. To everyone's relief Welbeck tries a Panenka and hits the bar. There's some argy bargy as Danny gets told to Stan Welbeck and Fernandes is booked.
That miss gives West Ham a lift and when Scarles mishits a shot into the box Wilson controls and shoots only to see his effort blocked by Dunk's outstretched hand. Ref Michael Sailsbury waves play on but VAR sends him to the monitor and it's a penalty. Lucas Paqueta does a heart-stopping skip and jump and sends the keeper the wrong way. So Lucas has made a goal, conceded a penalty and scored a penalty in the first half.
We can't argue with the entertainment at half-time and the crowd has been noisy under the lights, sensing the urgency of West Ham's plight. Though Matt thinks that Ref Salisbury Wilts under pressure. Nigel eats his lucky chocolate roll.
The second half begins with the familiar home nerves as West Ham sit back yet again. Todibo has gone off injured which is a blow, though the Greek Bloke does pretty well in his place. Mitoma comes on and causes lots of problems.
HE'S BEHIND YOU!
The equaliser is another corner catastrophe. Areola gets under the Mitoma's inswinger and can only palm it to Veltman who taps home. Wilson is replaced by Summerville after 63 minutes to a chorus of boos from the Irons fans who want a striker on the pitch. West Ham nearly come back when Bowen gets his head on a Potts free-kick only to see Verbruggen pull off a fine save.
But it's the Tesco Bags who press for the winner as the Irons run out of steam. A nice side-plot is their Turkish Bloke Kostoulas up against our Greek Bloke Mavropanos. The Turkish Bloke fires an effort straight at Areola. Mitoma plays a neat one-two and forces the Fonz into a fine low save while Summerville gets through but shoots straight at Verbruggen.
Mayers comes on as an emergency right-back when Walker-Peters departs, while Kante comes into midfield and impresses with his strength and energy. But it's tough bringing kids into a relegation struggle. Potts and Paqueta dawdle over a free kick and Brighton break with Rutter forcing another save. In the last minute Areola loses the flight of another corner and the Greek Bloke does well to head off the line.
It's two points dropped although a small relief is that at least we got something from the game and ended the run of three losses. We just can't hold a lead and errors from Kilman, Paqueta and Areola have cost us again.
We brave the chill night to make it to the Eagle where we respect the pint for the final time this year. At least Nuno must now be aware what we need in the window, a striker, defender and perhaps a winger. Let's hope 2026 is a better year for the Irons.
PLAYER RATINGS: Areola 6; Walker-Peters 7 (Mayers 5), Kilman 5, Todibo 6 (Mavropanos 6), Scarles 7; Potts 6, Magassa 6 (Soucek 5), Fernandes 6, Paqueta 7 (Kante 6); Bowen 7, Wilson 6 (Summerville 5).
No comments:
Post a Comment