Honours even in the David Moyes derby

West Ham 1 Everton 1

There's a pre-match demonstration against the board outside the Aquatics Centre, though at kick-off the mood isn't anything like as rebellious as at the Burnley game two years ago. I'm with my old pal Jackie, Fraser, Michael the Tainted Whovian, and Matt and Lisa who have been to see the Under-18s in the morning, as you do. Plus Clacton foul-weather fans Alison and Scott complaining about the sun getting in their eyes — who put us in these seats? 

The first half starts tamely but West Ham slowly impose themselves. Noble does well to get in a cross that Haller heads wide. The skipper impresses again as he dispossesses Digne to set up Haller. Seb's shot is too close to Pickford who saves with his feet. 

The Hammers do take the lead on 40 minutes. An excellent whipped free kick from Snodgrass is glanced into the corner of the net by the recalled Issa Diop. We've scored from a set piece.

Everton have looked pretty disjointed so far and all we have to do is hold out until half-time. Only Everton ruin the plan by getting a corner. Holgate gets above Rice to flick it on and Calvert Lewin scores with a diving header as he reacts quicker than Zabaleta. Sod it. Poor defending to concede from a corner. There's still time for the Irons to almost re-take the lead as Zabaleta's cross is met by Fornals and Pickford pulls off a great one-handed save.

DRAWING DRAWING WEST HAM
It's down to the concourse at half-time to discuss vegan Cumberland sausages, Shackleton's Stowaway and the fact Michael is writing a musical based on the songs of Mark Almond and not Soft Cell — anything but the football. 

The second half sees Everton start with more purpose as Davies heads wide. But it's a fairly even game as West Ham come back to search for a winner. Credit to the London Stadium crowd who raise the atmosphere in the second half with  chants of "We Are West Ham's Claret and Blue Army" and Bubbles. Zabaleta might be slowing but he has a storming second half. The closest WHU effort is when Snodgrass has a deflected shot that Pickford has to turn round the post, even if it might have been drifting wide. 

Haller is struggling though, often misplacing simple lay-offs and not looking a £45 million player. When he's partnered late on by Ajeti it's too much for the Vicar's Son, who threatens to step back from West Ham duties while supporting himself. 

Ajeti does look fired up, which makes a change. He clatters into a couple of tackles and gets a big cheer. Maybe too fired up. As MOTD later reveals, he puts his head back into Holgate, causing the Everton man to collapse to the ground. Zabaleta then gets involved and there's a big melee which certainly gets the crowd going. There's a VAR review and Ajeti, who hasn't shown any great intelligence, rather luckily escapes a red card.

There's still time for a kid (or is it Tony Cottee?) to invade the pitch at the end. As Fraser points out, if you're going to get a lifetime ban you might as well do it at that age to make it worthwhile.

The game fades out, but it's the sort of match we would have lost under Pellegrini, so in a way it's progress. What is clear though is that we've missed the injured Anderson and Antonio, players who can beat defenders, even if the team passing has at times been good.

We retreat to the Refreshment Rooms for the best part of the day. Two points dropped perhaps, though Everton have a better squad than their position suggests. On the positive side the team looked more confident with the reliable Randolph in goal. Moyes still has work to do, but at least it's another point on the board. Under Pellegrini we either won or lost — a few draws might be key to staying up.

PLAYER RATINGS: Randolph 6; Zabaleta 7; Diop 7, Ogbonna 6; Cresswell 6; Fornals 6 (Masuaku 5), Rice 6, Noble 7, Snodgrass 7, Lanzini 5 (Ajeti 5); Haller 5.