Just as it seemed West Ham and Jarrod Bowen would carry on where they left off in last season’s Europa Conference League final, Bournemouth equalised through Dominic Solanke to earn Andoni Iraola a point in his first match in charge. David Moyes looked miffed with a draw at full-time and stood with his arms folded on the edge of his technical area when Solanke rounded Alphonse Areola with 82 minutes on the clock. Iraola, in a black turtleneck jumper, high-fived his players as they headed down the tunnel.
Long before that history-making night in Prague West Ham swallowed the reality of losing Declan Rice to a bigger fish but did not countenance the prospect of selling Lucas Paquetá a month later. West Ham rejected an opening £70m proposal from Manchester City for Paquetá this week butgiven the Brazil midfielder is keen to make the move and has an £85m release clause that kicks in next summer, it feels almost inevitable his future will soon lie elsewhere.
Moyes acknowledged his two prized assets departing within weeks of each other would be a blow but refused to sugarcoat the situation. “I’ve got to make sure I keep a good harmony in the squad, in the club and that things are done correctly,” he said.
“It is maybe a different circumstance with Harry Kane but there is a price on everybody’s head somewhere. We wouldn’t want Lucas to go, it’s as simple as that, but I also understand if you were in Lucas’s position sometimes it is quite difficult to say: ‘Sorry, you can’t join Manchester City or Real Madrid’, because they are two of the biggest clubs in the world.When you’re on a journey, it’s hard to lose your best players.”
Paquetá impressed and rattled the post on 84 minutes, moments after Solanke pulled Bournemouth level after latching on to a miscued shot by Antoine Semenyo that arrived at his feet via Tomas Soucek’s heel. Paquetá then freed Danny Ings but Chris Mepham diverted his shot wide.
Early in the second half, Paquetá’s volley from an Emerson Palmieri cutback was headed clear and he was the architect behind much of West Ham’s craft. Before the interval, the Brazilian went to ground inside the West Ham area to scoop the ball away from the Bournemouth midfielder Ryan Christie and then expertly shielded the ball while on his backside.
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The goal in front of the Steve Fletcher Stand had plenty of action. Soucek toe-poked against a post early in the first half after being slipped in by Saïd Benrahma, only for the ball to shoot straight into the gloves of a grateful Neto in the Bournemouth goal. Philip Billing wellied the ball clear on the goalline after Michail Antonio latched on to a Paquetá flick at a corner. Joe Rothwell located the crossbar midway through the second half with a curling strike after cutting inside Pablo Fornals and David Brooks also went close, his stinging left-foot volley from the edge of the 18-yard box prompting Areola to tip the ball over.
Six minutes into the second half Bowen set off on a now-familiar knee slide in front of the travelling West Ham supporters. Fornals slid in to halt the advancing Rothwell 30 yards from the Bournemouth goal and Soucek nudged the ball into Bowen. Bowen quickly shifted the ball out of his feet and sent a delightful left-foot strike arrowing into the top corner. “Champions of Europe, you know what we are,” crowed the away fans.
“I was quite critical of the team at half-time because we were moving the ball too slow,” Iraola said. “We improved in the second half, but not as much as we would like.”
