West Ham 1 Bournemouth 0: Michail Antonio gets Hammers off to a winning start at the London Stadium
Slaven Bilic's men leave it late to overcome stubborn ten-man Cherries to collect first Premier League win of the season
WEST HAM's Michail Antonio left it late to defeat Bournemouth 1-0 as they began Premier League life at their new London Stadium.
The hosts had the best of the limited opportunities in the opening period, with Cheikhou Kouyate smashing a half volley over the bar and Cherries keeper Artur Boruc making a good stop at his near post from Enner Valencia.
It was after the restart the first real opportunity arrived, and it fell to the visitors. Winger Jordon Ibe was played through on goal but he inexplicably tried to cut the ball back rather than shoot himself and the danger was cleared.
Bournemouth’s Joshua King then forced West Ham stopper Adrian into action as he produced a great save to keep the contest deadlocked.
related stories
With little over ten minutes to go Harry Arter was given his marching orders after receiving a second yellow card, and the Hammers made their advantage count as Antonio powered a header from Gokhan Tore's cross.
FACTS, STATS, GOALS & LOLS
- It takes a special club to turn the Olympic Stadium into something so tacky so quickly but West Ham have managed it.
-Apparently the new Press Conference room can be located across from the vomitory. Make of that what you will.
- West Ham must be getting advice from the Arsenal medical team considering all the players they already have out injured.
- The Hammers really missed French playmaker Dimitri Payet. Their set-piece delivery was particularly awful.
- For a team so obsessed with possession, Bournemouth don’t half give the ball away easily.
- Craig Pawson was already reaching for his yellow card for Sam Byram’s foul on Ryan Fraser when the West Ham defender chopped down Steve Cook to confirm his booking.
- Not saying that the atmosphere at West Ham’s new home is poor but when Bournemouth supporters sing “Is this the Emirates?” you know you’ve got problems.
- It’s good job the loudspeakers are turned to full volume because the deafening noise was the only thing keeping most of the crowd awake.
- Michail Antonio was poor at right-back against Chelsea and not much better on the left wing against Bournemouth. Maybe he can try another position next week.
- Jordan Ibe took so long to be be subbed after Harry Arter's red card that he needed a helping hand from James Collins to get off the pitch.
- West Ham v Astra Giurgiu in the second leg of the Europa League first play-off round should be a belter on Thursday.
NEXT FIVE FIXTURES
WEST HAM
25 Aug - Astra Giurgiu (H) - EL
28 Aug - Man City (A) - PL
10 Sep - Watford (H) - PL
17 Sep - WBA (A) - PL
25 Sep - Southampton (H) - PL
BOURNEMOUTH
24 Aug - Morecambe (A) - LC
27 Aug - Crystal Palace (A) - PL
10 Sep - WBA (H) - PL
17 Sep - Man City (A) - PL
24 Sep - Everton (H) - PL
DREAM TEAM RATINGS
WEST HAM: Adrian 7, Masuaku 7, Collins 7, Reid 7, Byram 7, Noble 7, Nordtveit 7 (Fletcher 6, 80), Kouyate 7, Antonio 8, Vanelcia (Calleri 62, 6), Tore 7 (Obiang 89, 6)
Subs not used: Randolph, Ogbonna, Burke, Oxford
Booked: Byram, Obiang
BOURNEMOUTH: Boruc 6, Daniels 6, Cook 7, Francis 7, A Smith 6, Arter 4, Surman 6, Fraser 6 (Gosling 85, 6), King 6, Ibe 7 (Ake 79, 5), Wilson 6 (Grabban 75, 6)
Subs not used: Federici, B Smith, Gradel, Grabban, Afobe
Booked: Arter, Cook, Arter
Red card: Arter
STAR MAN: Michail Antonio
WHAT THEY SAID
Mark Noble (West Ham captain): "What a week. Chelsea on Monday, we didn’t get back from Romania until 5am on Friday morning. To win here is a great feeling.
"A win is a win. We’re not going to just to get them given, we’ve got to earn them."
Michail Antonio (West Ham scorer): “He (Noble) actually said to me two minutes before the fall was stuck up to the far stick ‘go and be a hero’.
"As soon as the ball went to the back post it was just pickings for me. It was a great feeling and good to be back on the scoresheet. To score the first ever Prem goal here, what can I say?
“I gave away a pen last week which disappointed me and I got taken off straight away. You can’t let that stuff affect you and forget about it and move on. I did and managed to get the winner here. So it’s one of those things where in football you always get another chance.
“I thrived on playing further forward and I was in awe of it and it’s just enjoyed every single moment of it.”
Steve Cook (Bournemouth defender): "There was not much in the game and we were looking strong, looking to get the winner.
"To keep a clean sheet would have been a positive but we didn’t. Hard legs, a hard game – we’re very disappointed."