West Ham United defeated Bournemouth 1-0 at the Olympic Stadium.
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic
Former player John Hartson says West Ham United’s 1-0 win over a gritty Bournemouth side was a good victory for the hosts considering they were missing key players, the BBC report.
The Hammers headed in to their first Premier League match at their new Olympic Stadium home coming off the back of a 2-1 defeat at Chelsea and missing key players such as Dimitri Payet and Andy Carroll.
It wasn’t ideal for Slaven Bilic’s side, yet they battled away and found a late winner as they capitalised on their numerical advantage when Michail Antonio headed home Gokhan Tore’s inviting cross.
West Ham’s Michail Antonio
Co-commentating on BBC Radio Five Live, Hartson believes it was a good start in their new home for West Ham and suggested Bilic will be delighted after missing a number of key players.
“It’s a good win for West Ham. They capitalised on Bournemouth being down to 10 men. It’s a good start at their new home. Missing a lot of big players they’ll be delighted to take three points against a gritty Bournemouth,” the former striker explained.
Goal scorer Antonio grabbed the man of the match award afer he posted an impressive 58 touches, 28 accurate passes, four shots and importantly the only goal of the game with five minutes to go.
The former Nottingham Forest winger undoubtedly wants to play as a winger rather than a fullback, and his ability to come up with big goals demonstrates why West Ham ought to play him further forward.
With ten days or so left in the transfer window and key players to return for West Ham, the situation is certainly looking brighter for the Hammers than it did say a few days ago.
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