BOURNEMOUTH: Bournemouth’s Enes Unal provided a dramatic climax to his side’s 1-1 draw with West Ham United on Monday as the Turkey forward’s superb late free-kick cancelled out Lucas Paqueta’s penalty.

Paqueta looked to have sealed West Ham’s second successive Premier League victory when he converted from the spot with just three minutes left at the Vitality Stadium.

But Unal came to the Cherries’ rescue three minutes later, rifling in a 30-metre free-kick that left goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, who had been excellent, with no chance.

The 27-year-old’s moment of magic extended Bournemouth’s unbeaten run to four games as they climbed to sixth place with 25 points, while West Ham stay 14th with 19 also from 16 games.

“Enes scored an amazing goal. He’s a specialist. But it’s only one point. I’m very disappointed with the penalty,” Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola said of the decision that went against his team for Tyler Adams’ handball.

“It is a play we analysed at a meeting before the season. They [refereeing chiefs] said players don’t need to defend with hands behind their back in an unnatural position. It didn’t affect the direction of the cross. I don’t care about the explanation now. It has cost us and I’m very disappointed.”

West Ham have gone two games without defeat to ease a little of the pressure on boss Julen Lopetegui. They remain in 14th place and sit seven points clear of the relegation zone.

“We suffered a little bit and overcame this to score, but it was an incredible goal from Unal. It’s a pity,” Lopetegui said. “There are positives. This is the first step to be strong and a better team.”

West Ham’s Polish keeper Fabianski will be 40 years old in April but showed he has lost none of his reflexes with stunning stops from Dango Ouattara and Evanilson in either half.

Bournemouth opened up the West Ham defence early with a sign of things to come but Antoine Semenyo’s scuffed shot at goal hit the outside of the post when he should have scored.

West Ham went close minutes later when Jarrod Bowen curled his effort from the edge of the box onto the crossbar.

Ouattara should have scored in the closing minutes of the first half after he was picked out at the back post but was denied by a sprawling stop from Fabianski, who then made another fine save from Evanilson’s near-post header at a corner.

At the other end, Mohammed Kudus looked destined to get his shot away from 10 metres before a superb tackle from Illya Zabarnyi blocked his goal-bound attempt.

Then came the late drama as Bournemouth conceded their first penalty of the season with Adams’ mistake allowing Paqueta to score, but West Ham could not hold on as Unal came up with a piece of sublime quality to delight the home supporters.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2024