West Ham made it five games without loss in the Premier League as they came from behind in dramatic style to share the spoils with Bournemouth in east London.
On a cold and wet afternoon at the London Stadium it was never going to be a classic, though Daivd Moyes will be frustrated that, given West Ham's recent form, his side were unable to see off an average Bournemouth team.
The hosts set out their intentions from the start. Knowing Bournemouth’s defensive frailties, the Hammers pressed high up from the off. The intense pressure, spearheaded by a confident Marko Arnautovic, was working with the Austrian and captain Mark Noble going close early on.
After an encouraging start, though, the Hammers began to ease off, struggling to get numbers in the box with Arnautovic forced wide on occasions leaving just Manuel Lanzini to occupy the visiting defenders.
This fixture is synonymous with goals. Boxing Day’s 3-3 draw meant between them the two sides had found the net 23 times in their last five meetings. However, the Cherries never really looked as if they were going to continue that trend in the first half, their best chance coming from Under-20 World Cup winner Lewis Cook as he curled an effort past the far post.
Having let the game fall flat towards the end of the first half, the Hammers began the second reinvigorated as Cheikhou Kouyate pushed forward to aid those ahead of him.
Moyes will have been happy with his side’s approach in the opening stages of the second half, but the Scotsman was forced into a change just after the hour mark when Lanzini picked up a knock and was replaced by Javier Hernandez.
Without the tricky Argentine dictating things in the final third, just as had happened late in the first half, the game began to drift again. That was until a frantic few minutes injected some much-needed life into the clash again.
Having looked far from threatening on the front foot, Eddie Howe had introduced former West Ham man Junior Stanislas in the place of Jordon Ibe, and it didn’t take him too long to have an impact.
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The winger, making a first appearance since before Christmas, cut the Hammers’ back line in two with one ball through to Ryan Fraser, the Scotsman’s run dragged Adrian out giving the ‘Wee-Man’ - as he’s known on the south coast - a comfortable finish.
The hosts would have felt hard done by to go behind, but that feeling didn’t hang around for too long.
Hernandez has struggled for goals and form since his move in the summer, but it took him just 11 seconds from the restart to find the back of the net, snapping up a blocked Arnautovic effort in typical fashion.
A draw is far from the worst result for the Hammers.
But with Watford losing at Leicester, Moyes’ side have passed up the chance to move into the top half of the Premier League table, failing to take all three points in a game which was theirs for the taking.