AFC Bournemouth missed out on the opportunity to leapfrog champions Manchester City into fifth spot as they were held to a 1-1 draw by West Ham United on Monday night.
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The Cherries needed to beat West Ham by three clear goals to overtake Pep Guardiola's side, but instead had to rely on a brilliant 90th-minute free-kick from substitute Enes Unal to salvage a point just three minutes after West Ham had taken the lead through Lucas Paqueta's penalty.
"I don't think it is a good result for us even if we scored the goal at the end," Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola told Sky Sports. "We were better in the second half. I didn't like the first half. We were pushing to win and then the penalty happened and we had to take the point. I don't think it is a good point for us.
"The game went very slow in the first half for us. We were not being brave enough to put them under real pressure. We improved in the second half but it wasn't enough to win it."
Stunning equaliser
On the quality of Unal's spectacular equaliser, Andoni added: "It had a good effect. Enes [Unal] scored an amazing goal. But it is only one point."
Goalscorer Unal, who also netted a late goal in Bournemouth's last match, a 2-1 win at Ipswich Town, was understandably delighted with his stunning strike.
"I just checked the distance [of free-kick], and it was my distance, it was perfect," he said.
"I will be watching [replays of my goal] for sure!"
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
26 | +36 | 61 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
26 | +28 | 53 |
| 3 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
25 | +12 | 47 |
| 4 |
Man City
MCI
|
25 | +17 | 44 |
| 5 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
26 | +14 | 43 |
| 6 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
25 | +13 | 43 |
For West Ham head coach Julen Lopetegui, Monday's result was another positive following on from their 2-1 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers the previous week, with the Hammers now seven points clear of the relegation zone.
"We were very close to winning against a very good team," said Lopetegui. "That is why you are very close there is frustration to lose these two points. But there are positives against a very demanding team in Bournemouth.
"We deserved to score. In the second half we knew they were going to push more and they did. I prefer to be positive and look forward."
"I want to highlight the behaviour of the group. All the players want to work very hard to do their best for the team. This is the first step to be strong and a better team. We are going to keep this positive mentality."
