West Ham 2-2 West Brom
- Published
- comments
Gareth McAuley's injury-time equaliser earned West Brom a dramatic draw against West Ham at London Stadium, after Manuel Lanzini looked to have won it for the hosts.
The visitors had taken an early lead when Nacer Chadli made the most of some uncertainty in the home defence, while Sofiane Feghouli equalised from close range after the break.
Lanzini's swerving shot with just three minutes left gave his side the lead.
However, McAuley's dramatic late intervention saw the points shared.
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic was sent off after protesting to match officials in the aftermath of West Brom's equaliser, which saw substitute Jonny Evans' header take a touch off McAuley on its way into the net.
West Brom remain in eighth place in the Premier League table, while West Ham slip back one place into 10th.
Hammers fight back, then slip back
West Ham were the more adventurous side for most of the match, but until Feghouli's leveller it had seemed likely their pressure would not be converted into goals.
The visitors had scored with their first meaningful attack, although Bilic was furious for what he saw as a foul on Feghouli in the immediate build-up to Chadli's strike.
In fact West Brom came the closest to scoring the next goal when Salomon Rondon's dipping volley rebounded off the face of the West Ham crossbar.
Bilic's mood did not improve when a Feghouli goal was ruled out for offside, but the Algerian's equaliser, latching on to the rebound after Ben Foster had tipped a Lanzini shot onto his bar, was just rewards.
The turnaround appeared complete when Lanzini's left-footed effort tore past a static Foster, but events took one last, perplexing turn for the home side.
Solid Albion continue to impress
Tony Pulis' side conceded nearly two-thirds of the possession to their hosts and will be delighted to leave east London with a point after falling behind so late in the match.
They had looked defensively solid until Feghouli's leveller, but after Lanzini's goal they dug deep to ensure they finished the game five points clear of the next side in the table, Stoke.
West Brom are unbeaten in four outings and, with their next two matches at home to Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, they will be looking to close the gap on Everton in seventh place.
'The referee was very bad'
West Ham boss Slaven Bilic: "The way we played makes me proud and happy. We should have scored more but we scored enough to win the game.
"To concede like this, it is very frustrating. The decisions were big time against us, every one of them. It is hard for referees but when you are on the wrong side of all decisions it makes you very, very angry. The referee was very bad today.
"To be fair I am already big time punished with what happened in the game. I don't think that I crossed the line, it was nothing personal. It was the fourth or fifth decision which went against us and it's hard to get over that without reacting."
West Brom boss Tony Pulis: "Fair play to West Ham they changed the system and caught us out a bit. It was cat and mouse and an entertaining game for the supporters.
"There were lots of incidents where people were falling over today and Michael Oliver got most of them right.
"The players have played some smashing stuff at times. They kept fighting and fighting and never gave up. We have 13 games to go and we still need to try and get as many points as we can."
Man of the match - Sofiane Feghouli
The joy of six - stats
The Baggies have opened the scoring in the 6th minute in each of their last three Premier League games.
Both Sofiane Feghouli and Manuel Lanzini scored their second goals in their last three Premier League games at the London Stadium - only Michail Antonio (three) has scored more league goals at the ground for the Hammers.
Lanzini has scored two goals and provided two assists in his last five Premier League games for West Ham.
Nacer Chadli has been involved in five of West Brom's six Premier League goals against West Ham this season (three goals, two assists).
Indeed, he's scored more Premier League goals against West Ham than he has against any other side (three).
Only Bournemouth (six) have conceded more goals in the 90th minute of Premier League games than West Ham this season (four).
West Brom have scored six goals against West Ham in the Premier League this season. Only against Wolves in 2011-12 (seven) have they scored more against an opponent in a single season.
What's next?
West Brom host Bournemouth on 25 February at 15:00 GMT, while West Ham are at Watford at 17:30 on the same day.