Bournemouth 1 – 1 West Ham

Enes Unal’s impressive free-kick canceled out Lucas Paqueta’s controversial VAR penalty and gave Bournemouth a deserved 1-1 draw against West Ham.

Unal came in from nearly 30 yards to fire the dead ball past the helpless Lukasz Fabianski, easing the sour taste in the hosts’ mouths after they had fallen behind through a controversial handball decision just minutes earlier.

“It’s pretty sensational, it’s great from Unal,” was the assessment Sky Sports’ Alan Smith.

The Cherries had been knocking on West Ham’s door since the half-time break, firing a total of 17 shots, but appeared to be frustrated by their hard-working visitors, who were then lucky to score the lead themselves.

After substitute Nicklas Fullkrug nodded a header straight at Kepa Arrizabalaga, VAR Michael Salisbury noticed a possible handball against Tyler Adams from Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s first cross, and after a detailed review and Chris Kavanagh’s visit to the field monitor, the referee pointed it out the place.

“Like most people, I saw it on the big screen and found it tough. I know his hand is up, but he’s so close to the ball,” Ryan Christie said Sky Sports afterward.

“Their striker misses a sitter afterwards anyway, so it could be an advantage. We didn’t get one in a similar situation against Ipswich.”

Paqueta stepped up to score the winner to loud boos at the Vitality Stadium before Unal’s free-kick took the Cherries two points ahead of Man City in fifth place.

Earlier, both teams had hit the crossbar in an even first half before Fabianski was keen to deny first Evanilson and then Christie with two acrobatic stops as the Cherries increased the pressure in the second half, but the Hammers were their point after one of theirs Stops definitely worth the most committed defensive performance of the season.

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