Ashley Westwood’s signal to the bench was instant. The London Stadium fell silent. Burnley’s midfield orchestrator soon departed for hospital, the incident overshadowing the rest of this 1-1 draw.
It had appeared innocuous, Westwood winning the ball ahead of Nikola Vlasic. But within seconds the seriousness was obvious. Declan Rice gestured for a stretcher, while Vlasic lifted his shirt to hide the tears. Teammates consoled him, as did several opponents, affirming a lack of malice.
It was a freak incident with a potentially horrible outcome. Mike Jackson, in joint caretaker charge of Burnley, was unable to confirm whether it was Westwood’s ankle, leg or indeed both. “You could see from the reaction of the players it wasn’t good,” he said. “It was a big blow to the group – he’s been here a long time and is well thought of. He looked distraught. Our thoughts are with him.”
For Jackson and the small pocket of visiting fans the noise returned soon after when, after Jay Rodriguez headed Maxwel Cornet’s corner against the bar, Wout Weghorst nodded in the rebound. It was the Dutchman’s first goal since February.
For a while it seemed that life after Sean Dyche would start with a precious victory. Had Cornet not dragged a penalty wide in first-half stoppage time, the homecoming for the kings of Lyon would most likely have been spoiled. Instead it was a difficult second half, Tomas Soucek’s late leveller earning West Ham a point. Only Nick Pope’s heroics prevented a full reversal.
Defeat would have been cruel on Burnley, who were worthy of a point after a testing 72 hours. A not-so-good Friday marked Dyche’s last day in charge, a late victory against Everton not enough filling in a five-defeat sandwich.
Most queried the decision. More still questioned the five-day wait after losing at Norwich, particularly with no immediate sign of a successor; Jackson, promoted from under-23s duties, hardly screams firefighter. But the performance suggested hope remains. “You need a little bit of a foundation to build on – hopefully that comes from today,” said Jackson. On his future, he deflected: “My thoughts are about getting on the bus, getting some food and going home. When it’s ready to be said I’m sure the board and the chairman will give the information supporters want.”
With Tottenham and Arsenal slipping in the race for fourth no one seems to want to win, David Moyes’s succinct post-match responses made clear his bitter disappointment. A valuable point come season’s end? “I don’t think so. It was a great chance today and we didn’t take it.”
He could use some bodies, particularly up front where Michail Antonio is the only senior option. Oh, to have Carlos Tevez, who took the microphone pre-match, declaring: “Come on you Irons.” Antonio’s all-round contribution has improved in recent weeks, but in front of goal he is shot: an early strike unwittingly became a ball to Ben Johnson out wide.
Pope soon made his first intervention to deny Jarrod Bowen after a clever corner routine, before Aaron Cresswell almost marked his 250th league appearance in claret with a sweetly struck volley. James Tarkowski blocked.
Then came Westwood’s injury. West Ham conceded first, which remarkably they have done more times than Burnley this season. A less alien scenario for them than, say, a European semi-final, then. The mountain should have steepened pre-break when the substitute Josh Brownhill sent Cornet through to be felled by Lukasz Fabianski. After 22 successful Burnley penalty conversions, what could go wrong? After a strimmer-won’t-start runup, everything. It was another bad moment for Cornet after his bad miss at Norwich.
After the interval West Ham penned Burnley in. Johnson whipped a cross for Antonio who planted his header wide. The cameras panned to Tevez. On the break Cornet found Johnson’s blindside and squared for Rodriguez, whose effort was wayward.
West Ham’s restriction of movement finally paid off with 16 minutes left when Soucek shouldered in Manuel Lanzini’s cross. That set up a frantic final five minutes, with Pope producing a fine tryptic of saves. Antonio’s drive was tipped over, Issa Diop was denied from the resulting corner and soon Antonio was set free … Surely? No: Pope blocked to make it a baker’s dozen of league blanks for the forward.
“That’s why he’s an England goalkeeper,” said Jackson. “He demands those standards of himself.” Moyes was less effusive: “He has to score,” he said generally of Antonio.
Burnley remain three points adrift of the last safe spot, West Ham five off fourth. They have wildly differing ambitions but neither can afford to stop. At least West Ham have a viable alternative route to the Champions League. The Championship has one entry point.
