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 scored 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!

Point picked at Cherries

Bournemouth 1 West Ham 1

Up in Edinburgh for the start of the season as the Irons still try to recruit fringe players. And it's certainly good to hear the chants of, "We know what we are... Champions of Europe!" from the away fans bringing back memoioes of the miracle of Prague. 

The Hammers are unlucky in the first half as Benrahma nicks the ball to Soucek whose slightly deflected shot bounces off the post into Neto's hands. The Cherries have another escape when Paqueta gets his head to a corner and Billing has to clear off the line. Brooks tests Areola a couple of times and Solanke's pace troubles Aguerd, but the home side's new signings are still getting to know each other's play.

West Ham take the lead after 51 minutes with a great goal. Fortnals does really well to win a tackle and Soucek plays the loose ball to Jarrod Bowen, who curls home a lovely strike from the edge of the box. He's still on fire and, erm, parenting with Dani Dyer.

But after the goal the Hammers get pushed back as of old. Aguerd and Zouma win some good headers and Rothwell is unlucky when his shot hits the bar. But it looks like the Hammers might hold on for a 1-0 win until Semenyo's shot hits the heel of Souek and falls kindly for Solanke to round Areola and score.

Ings is on for the 33-year-old Antonio and the Hammers almost restore their lead when Paqueta - who has looked committed despite Man City's interest - hits a low shot against the foot pf the post.

So in the end it's a fairly decent away point in a game WHU could have won. The way the side faded after scoring was worrying, but with Alvarez and Ward-Prowse to come in that will surely give the side a boost. And it's already a much better start than last season, when the side lost the first three games. Now we just have to tell Chelsea where to inset their blue flag.

Oh what fun it is to see West Ham win away!

Bournemouth 0 West Ham 4 (four)

For once it's an enjoyable experience listening to a West Ham away game on Radio London. It's a perfect start after five minutes when a loosely-marked Antonio heads home Cresswell's corner. It gets even better after 12 minutes when Coufal crosses and Paqueta heads home. What we didn't expect from the Brazilian was bullet headers and tough tackling, but that's what we are getting as he continues to adapt to the English league. 

Meanwhile the stat that Nigel has repeated all season about us being the only team never to have scored in the first 15 minutes has been well and truly busted. Bournemouth have a good spell where Lerma and Solanke test Fabianski, but the game is over just before half-time when another corner drops to Rice who smashes it home. Blimey. At half-time an Emergency beep sounds on my phone, presumably from Spurs who have let in five in 21 minutes at Newcastle. 

The second half sees West Ham containing the Cherries before Bowen crosses and Fornals scores with a brilliant scorpion-kick. He's in tears after scoring, presumably in shock at West Ham scoring four goals away from home. "Are you Tottenham in disguise?" ask the Irons fans, followed by a request to Declan for "one more year",  Another sub Maxwel Cornet scores a fifth 'goal' only to be correctly ruled offside.

The side have taken a lot of confidence from the draw against Arsenal and the win against Gent and this is quite an achievement after Thursday's exertions with mainly the same players - and against a Bournemouth side that was going well under Gary O'Neil. From 0-4 at Brighton to 4-0 at Bournemouth. This sees us almost out of the relegation dogfight and another win should see us completely safe. Irons!

It's the Yarmy and Cressy show again

Bournemouth 2 West Ham 2

Well, at least the Irons got something out of this after the Oxford debacle and for a night at least go up to third place.The Hammers took the lead with a great goal, Haller showing the skills of a real target man to cushion the ball and find Yarmolenlenko, who spun on to his left foot and find the corner of the net. With three goals in four games Yarmy is starting to look a real force.

The lead didn't last long though, with the unmarked King poking home after a ricochet and VAR allowing the goal to stand despite offside claims. Fabianski straining a though muscle and having to be replaced by Roberto was a blow, but the Hammers almost regained the lead before half time as first Ramsdale saved brilliantly from Anderson's overhead kick and then Ogbonna headed a great chance wide.

Something went wrong with the concentration early in the second half as Bournemouth took the lead after 27 seconds, through Callum Wilson, who absolutely always scores against West Ham. It could have been worse when Ake bundled home, only to be correctly ruled offside. At 2-1 Roberto then had to to make a fine one-on-one stop from Wilson.

But credit to Pellegrini's men for fighting back in a game we would have lost last season. Yarmolenko's cross was headed down by Anderson  — who seems to be improving dramatically in the air and earlier almost scored with his head — and goal machine Aaron Cresswell stroked home his second in two games.

There was still time for Cresswell to survive a shirt-tugging penalty appeal, but the Hammers hung on to take a point against a side we traditionally struggle against. I'm reasonably happy with that.

Beaten by the seaside

Bournemouth 2 West Ham 0

Listened to this one on Radio London while recovering from a cataract operation on my left eye — the surgeon says the the worst case scenario is that I might be able to see West Ham away defeats with perfect clarity from now on. 

It was always likely that West Ham would beat Arsenal and then lose to Bournemouth. Must be something to do with that off-white greyish kit. The first half sounded poor, with few chances apart from Nasri shooting just wide and Brooks heading past the post for the home side. The key moment in the second half came when, after Antonio's scuffed shot, Carroll managed to fire over an open goal from a couple of feet out. To be fair to Andy he did win the header that caused the initial melee, but it was a sign of his rustiness that he missed such a sitter.

Bournemouth scored soon after, an absolutely cracking half-volley from Callum Wilson. They deserved their win as Fabianski made a great save from Cook's header and Wilson hit the post. With the last kick Brooks got behind Ogbonna and crossed for King to tap home the second. Bournemouth have done the double over WHU this season and are rapidly becoming our bogey side.

What's really disappointing is that the side that looked so positive against Arsenal failed to test the Cherries' returning 38-year-old keeper Artur Boruc. Should Hernandez have started in place of Carroll? He and Antonio looked a more mobile partnership in the win at Fulham.

The whole side seemed to be affected by the Marko Arnautovic saga, with the distracted striker omitted from the squad, and Pellegrini suggesting he's not been training well. The Guardian claims that West Ham are enraged and that Marko has apologised to the squad, though it's not clear exactly what for, apart from dreaming of a wad of £280k a week. Meanwhile the Daily Mail suggests that Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande (not Shanghai as previously reported) are now reconsidering their bid for Arnie, which would be a rather pleasing case of schadenfreude (whoever he plays for). 

The Hammers need to get the Arnie situation sorted quickly and find some finishers. We've lost away this season to middling sides like Brighton, Burnley and Bournemouth and WHU won't be finishing in the top half unless some consistency is found.

Hammers robbed of win in Boxing Day cracker

Bournemouth 3 West Ham 3

Well we can't complain about the entertainment value. West Ham finally had some luck when Begovic managed to slip on the rain-soaked pitch and gift Arnie the equaliser at 2-2. Arnautovic's finish after a great run and cross from Masusku and a Hernandez shot looked to have secured a late winner. But then came Bobby Madley's extraordinary decision to overrule his linesman who had flagged for offside. Wilson had also bundled the ball in with his arm to make it worse.

Hammers had taken the lead with a Collins header only to see Gosling level and then lax marking allow Ake to score a second. Add to this the fact Francis should have been red carded for (inadvertently) kicking Kouyate in the face, an early miss from Ayew and a fine double save from Adrian and you have a typical festive fixture full of incident. West Ham even managed to misspell Arnautovic as "Arnoutovic" on his shirt in the first half...

A point at least keeps West Ham out of the bottom three and Arnautovic has scored five in five games. The worrying thing is that the Irons have conceded six goals in two games, which is back to the defensive form that got Bilic sacked. Next we have to beat a team that hasn't won since August in West Brom. What could possibly go wrong?

Payet enjoys a midweek break in Bournemouth

Bournemouth 1 West Ham 3

It seemed like everything was going wrong for the Hammers when Andy Carroll went off after 12 minutes with what looked like a hamstring injury and then Harry After twisted and turned on the edge of the area to score with a shot that perhaps Adrian might have done better with. The home side should go two up when Afobe heads over from two yards out. The Hammers did have a few chances in the first half with Boruc making a great save from Jelavic's deflected cross and then tipping over from Payet. 

Second half it all came good though thanks to the genius of Payet. The Reunion man fired an incredible Beckham-esque fee kick over the wall and in off the underside of the bar, before being booked for celebrating with the WHU fans. Goal of the season so far and great to hear the resouiding choruses of "We've got Payet!" on Radio London. The French magician then manages to twist past three defenders on the right and present Valencia with a tap-in. Payet goes off to a big hug from Slaven in his beanie hat. 

Not to be outdone, Enner Valencia then fires another duping free kick over the wall and into the net leaving the bemused Artur Boruc looking like a man whose bus has completely ignored his request to stop.

Unbeaten in nine games now and a great three points on the south coast. We're fifth and our season is back on course. And a bad night for Nigel's mum's hairdresser who was taking his new girlfriend to the match on a hot date… only to see his boys receive a right haircut.