LONDON :Bournemouth striker Evanilson struck twice against West Ham United on Saturday to gain his side a point in a 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, cancelling out goals from Niclas Fuellkrug and Jarrod Bowen.
The draw lifted Bournemouth into ninth position in the league standings, although they remain winless in six games, denting their chances of qualifying for European football. West Ham climbed a spot to 15th, well clear of the relegation zone.
Bournemouth opened the scoring when West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola spilled a shot in the 38th minute, allowing Evanilson to tap in from point-blank range.
Fuellkrug, making his second appearance since picking up an injury in mid-January, equalised in the 61st minute before West Ham captain Bowen put his side in the lead, requiring a 79th minute strike from Evanilson to rescue the draw.
“It was a to-and-fro, hard-fought Premier League game,” said West Ham manager Graham Potter.
The second half was much brighter than the first, when neither side looked confident going forward and West Ham looked fated to another game without a goal.
However, the introduction by Potter of Fuellkrug in the 54th minute seemed to give West Ham a boost and paid off when the German towered above the fray to head home a James Ward-Prowse corner.
“His impact there was clear to everybody,” Potter said. “It’s not just the goal, it was more how he helps the team in terms of being a focal point and making things a bit simpler in terms of attack.”
Not to be outdone, Bowen smartly scored a header of his own seven minutes later from a powerful Mohammed Kudus cross, nestling the ball into the right-hand corner of the net. It put Bowen on eight league goals for the season and made him West Ham’s top scorer, one ahead of Tomas Soucek.
Bournemouth were missing the attacking intent of the injured Justin Kluivert, but they responded well after going behind and launched a number of attacks, culminating in Evanilson again scoring from close range after the ball was knocked down by Dean Huijsen.
“From very little again we conceded two,” said Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola. “It cost us a lot because we missed more clear chances.”
The south coast side are five points off Newcastle United in sixth place – a spot set to secure Europa League qualification – but the North East side have two games in hand.
West Ham’s season is all but finished with the team 15 points above the relegation zone. The fans will have been happy to see two goals, however, after seeing nine in Potter’s first 10 Premier League games in charge.
