Jordan Pickford made a stunning save deep into stoppage time as West Ham United were held to a 0-0 draw by Everton at London Stadium.
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Although West Ham created the better chances in the end, it was a largely flat performance from Julen Lopetegui's team on Saturday.
Substitute Danny Ings, who had tested Pickford in the 87th minute, thought he had won it in the third minute of added time with a deflected attempt, but Everton’s goalkeeper produced a fine fingertip save, his sixth of the match.
Pickford had been beaten earlier in the second half though, when Crysencio Summerville struck the post, after Jesper Lindstrom had seen a header kept out by Lukasz Fabianski at the other end.
The stalemate leaves West Ham in 14th, two places above Everton, heading into the international break.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
12 | -1 | 15 |
| 14 |
West Ham
WHU
|
11 | -6 | 12 |
| 15 |
Everton
EVE
|
12 | -7 | 11 |
| 16 |
Leicester
LEI
|
12 | -8 | 10 |
| 17 |
Wolves
WOL
|
12 | -8 | 9 |
How the match unfolded
Summerville was one of West Ham’s brightest attackers throughout, though he showed his defensive qualities with a fantastic block on Abdoulaye Doucoure in the ninth minute, when the Everton midfielder was through on goal.
It took until two minutes before the break for the Hammers to register their first meaningful attempts as Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio were both denied by Pickford at his near post.
Despite improvement from West Ham after the break, with Bowen and Guido Rodriguez probing, Fabianski had to come to their rescue when Orel Mangala picked out Lindstrom in the 61st minute. The hosts’ goalkeeper was on hand to tip the Danish international’s header over.
Lucas Paqueta’s excellent pass released Summerville for the clearest chance of the day for either team, but the winger’s low shot hit the base of the right-hand upright.
Ings’ attempt that bounced up off James Tarkowski seemed set to settle the contest in the closing stages, but Pickford stood firm with a save worthy of securing a share of the spoils.
Pickford to the rescue, again
Everton have seen a flurry of players come and go at Goodison Park, but Pickford has remained throughout the off-field turmoil and continued to show his importance on the pitch for the Toffees.
Idrissa Gueye’s dragged effort was a sign of their intent early on, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s loose pass moments later offered Everton a glorious chance to take the lead on the break, but both Doucoure and then Dominic Calvert-Lewin – on the rebound – fluffed their lines.
Iliman Ndiaye then saw a header comfortably gathered by Fabianski before Calvert-Lewin’s attempt was easily kept out by the West Ham goalkeeper as Everton failed to make the most of some decent openings, and their attack continues to struggle to click under Sean Dyche.
And the Toffees were ultimately indebted to Pickford. He might have been beaten by Summerville’s attempt, but will surely think he earned his luck when he made a pair of excellent stops to thwart Ings.
The first one, a low dive to his right, was good in its own right, but the spectacular nature of his stop in the final stages was the highlight of what was a tight encounter between two sides who looked short of confidence.
Positive signs enough to ease the pressure on Lopetegui?
Despite Bowen and Antonio going close late in the first 45 minutes, Stuart Attwell’s half-time whistle led to boos echo around London Stadium from the home supporters as the Hammers failed to find a spark as they aimed to bounce back from last week’s loss to Nottingham Forest.
But the hosts started on the front foot after the break, with Bowen getting in behind Jarrad Branthwaite, only to see his goalbound effort take a deflection off Tarkowski and go narrowly past Pickford’s net.
Jean-Clair Todibo then almost gifted Calvert-Lewin a chance to open the scoring with a poor mistake, while Tomas Soucek diverted Vitalii Mykolenko’s fierce effort towards goal, as signs of the defensive fragility that has plagued the Hammers returned.
Their best moments fell to Summerville and Ings late on, with the pair denied by the post and Pickford’s heroics.
That improved second-half display provided Lopetegui with some positives, but whether a draw will be enough to ease the pressure from fans remains to be seen.
Club reports
West Ham report | Everton report
What managers said
Julen Lopetegui: "We had more chances than them. The first half was a gift for them. In the second half we did better, we were aggressive and had chances to win. The matches aren’t about 45 minutes. They are 90 minutes and [stoppage] time. That’s why I’m not happy, for sure. I think we can, and have to, do better."
Sean Dyche: "It’s another point and clean sheet on the road. With a little bit more in the final third, we’d have had more points this season. We had pockets where I thought we were a threat. A lot of our game was good today. We opened up the game when we could and defended resolutely when we had to."
Next Premier League fixtures
Key facts
West Ham kept their first home clean sheet in 15 Premier League games, since a goalless draw against Brighton in their first match of 2024.
No team has failed to score in more different Premier League matches than Everton this season (5), with the Toffees also having a joint league-high two goalless draws so far this term.
Having faced just 17 shots combined in their Premier League games against Brentford (8) and Ipswich (9), West Ham have now faced at least 18 shots in each of their last four league matches.
Everton have the lowest passing accuracy overall in the Premier League this season (77%), while West Ham’s 78% passing accuracy today was their lowest in a home league match this term.
