After what seemed an eternity, West Ham finally played their first Premier League game at the Olympic Stadium. Following confirmation the Hammers would be playing their trade in Stratford from the 2016/17 season onwards, excitement levels rose with each passing week and after the final top-flight game was played out at Upton Park - a thrilling 3-2 win over Manchester United - supporters had been counting down the days that their new ground would be open for business, at least for Premier League action.
Bournemouth were the third opponents West Ham welcomed to their new home after meetings with Domzale and Juventus, and the first in England’s top tier this term. The Cherries secured all three points in this fixture last season, edging out victory in a seven-goal thriller. A repeat of that encounter, though, was effectively ruled out when the teams were announced. The Hammers’ injury problems have been well documented recently and Slaven Bilic wasn’t helped in that Sofiane Feghouli, Andy Carroll and Dimitri Payet, along with club-record signing and long-term absentee Andre Ayew, would all miss Sunday’s late fixture.
With new signing Jonathan Calleri not yet up to speed following his loan switch from Deportivo Maldonado, Enner Valencia was deployed as the lone frontman by Bilic, yet his struggles in the role hindered West Ham’s attack. The 26-year-old hasn’t scored in England’s top tier since a brace against Manchester City at the end of January, with Bournemouth centre-back pair Steve Cook and Simon Francis limiting Valencia’s impact with consummate ease.
Indeed, it was little surprise to see him withdrawn from action on the hour mark for Calleri. Valencia mustered just 18 touches during his time on the pitch as he struggled to have the desired effect in the final third. Bilic may well have preferred to resist the temptation to throw Calleri into the mix so soon after arriving, particularly as only 11 days have passed since he represented Argentina at the Olympics, but West Ham required a more prominent figure in attack to challenge Cook and Francis.
However, when his lone striker provides zero key passes, a 71.4% pass success rate, two unsuccessful touches and is dispossessed two times to culminate in a WhoScored rating of just 5.94, Bilic had little choice but to throw Calleri in at the deep end, if only to help stretch the Bournemouth defence. That, coupled with a Bournemouth red card, helped West Ham to all the spoils as they finally found the back of the net with a little under 10 minutes to play. Gokhan Tore’s drifted cross to the back past was headed in by Michail Antonio, who it could be argued would not have been playing so high up the pitch had it not been for the raft of injuries plaguing the Hammers squad.
No player has scored more headed goals than Antonio (7) in the Premier League since the start of last season and with Feghouli, Ayew and Carroll all sidelined, the former Nottingham Forest man was pushed into a more familiar winger role and, after an underwhelming display against Chelsea at right-back, looked far more comfortable in an advanced position. The 26-year-old made the most of his chance on the left, completing more dribbles (4) than any other player as he and summer signing Arthur Masuaku linked up effectively.
Antonio has established himself as a key man under Bilic after finally breaking into the side midway through last season and went a long way to consolidating a first team spot with a WhoScored rating of 8.63, better than any other player. Furthermore, with Antonio deployed further forward, Bilic is able to call on a natural right-back in Sam Byram. Having moved to east London in January, West Ham’s attacking injury crisis could provide the youngster with the chance to nail down a regular starting berth and his showing against Bournemouth indeed suggested he’s ready for regular action.
Only Havard Nordtveit (7) managed more interceptions than Byram (6) in West Ham’s 1-0 win with the 22-year-old offering greater balance in the Hammers’ defence. With Masuaku providing the attacking threat from deep, Byram is capable of tucking inside to ensure West Ham aren’t caught out on the break, as is often the case when Antonio plays right-back. With so many injuries ravaging the West Ham squad, a welcome three points after a disappointing 2-1 loss at Chelsea last Monday will have been a boost to Bilic. West Ham are far from the finished article, which is little shock given the mass injection of personnel and the ever growing list of absentees, but they have plenty of positives to take from a hard-fought 1-0 win over Bournemouth.
