West Ham United 1-1 Stoke City
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Bojan Krkic has scored two goals from just three shots on target in the Premier League this season
Bojan Krkic earned Stoke City a draw at West Ham as the Potters extended their unbeaten run to six games.
Chances had been at a premium before the Hammers took the lead when Michail Antonio's header from a Dimitri Payet cross came off Stoke midfielder Glenn Whelan and beat keeper Lee Grant at his near post.
West Ham keeper Adrian might have conceded a penalty for a foul on Jonathan Walters but the referee played on and Bojan volleyed in from his team-mate's cross.
Stoke almost snatched a late winner but Adrian palmed a Charlie Adam free-kick wide.
Inspired substitutions make difference
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic decided to take action after an hour's play had produced only one real chance with Pedro Obiang's header smartly saved by Grant in the Stoke goal.
The Hammers boss brought on Ashley Fletcher and Edimilson Fernandes, moving Antonio up front - and the switch immediately paid off as the home side took the lead.
Antonio was unhappy not to be credited with the goal but Whelan admitted afterwards the ball had come off the back of his head.
Stoke boss Mark Hughes followed Bilic's lead with a double substitution, introducing Bojan and Peter Crouch. It was a move that produced similarly quick results as the West Ham defence was finally breached.
Adrian did not cover himself in glory, coming a long way out of his goal in a failed bid to stop a Walters cross from which Bojan, making only his seventh appearance in 2016-17, scored his second goal of the season.
"We went a bit more direct as we felt there was an opportunity there," said Hughes. "[Bojan has] been a bit frustrated as he hasn't had a lot of game time of late but he showed his quality."
Stoke boss Mark Hughes said his side went more direct following his substitutions, and the approach worked as shown by a graphic of their goal
Are West Ham settling at London Stadium?
The Hammers were playing their first game at their new home since the crowd trouble that marred their EFL Cup win over Chelsea.
The match appeared to pass without any incident as West Ham went four games unbeaten in all competitions at London Stadium.
However, Bilic's side have yet to hit the heights of last season and are nine points worse off than at the same stage of the 2015-16 campaign.
Although they improved after the break following a poor first half, they still lacked a cutting edge and managed only two shots on target compared with Stoke's four.
Only Hull City (13) have had fewer shots on target at home this season than West Ham (14).
West Ham's frustration at not being able to hold on for the three points will be heightened with tough-looking league fixtures against Tottenham, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool coming up next.
Man of the match - Pedro Obiang
Pedro Obiang (left) made six tackles and one interception as well as gaining possession eight times for his side
What they said:
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic: "It's a frustrating result but it's a fair result. It's a mistake by Adrian.
"It looked like he was never going to get to the ball. We gave that goal away very cheaply. We were 1-0 up with 15 minutes to go. A very cheap goal has cost us a win."
Stoke boss Mark Hughes: "We felt we went behind against the run of play but we responded in the right manner.
"It's difficult to play on this pitch. It's slow and we had to change how we played a little bit.
"A lot was made of our so-called difficult start. We have come up against decent teams and haven't quite hit our levels.
"But we are now fully into our stride and where we want to be."
BBC Match Of The Day pundit Ian Wright: "West Ham goalkeeper Adrian has had a bit of a nightmare. For the goal, where's he going? What's he doing? For me, the goalkeeper has cost them the game."
The stats you need to know
Stoke have now gone seven league games unbeaten against West Ham (W3 D4), their joint longest unbeaten run against a Premier League opponent (Blackburn the other side).
Stoke have won just six of their 45 Premier League games in London, drawing 10 and losing 29.
Jonathan Walters has been directly involved in 57 Premier League goals for the Potters (39 goals, 18 assists), more than any other Stoke player.
What next?
Following the international break, Stoke are at home to Bournemouth at 15:00 GMT on Saturday, 19 November, while West Ham return to action at Tottenham for a 17:30 GMT kick-off on the same day.
- Published30 October 2016
