Bournemouth’s Joshua King hits hat-trick in thriller with West Ham

[Devolz]

The jubilation on the touchline said it all as Eddie Howe was mobbed by Joshua King, who wheeled away after scoring his first Premier League hat-trick to earn Bournemouth a much-needed first win this year. King and Benik Afobe had missed first-half penalties before the Norway striker scored his ninth, 10th and 11th goals of the season in a character-building home win that lifted them six points clear of the relegation zone.

“It is relief from my perspective, pure relief,” Howe said. “We have gone back to basics and worked incredibly hard to try and turn things around. We still need to get to 40 points or whatever the magic total is as quickly as we can. There is no complacency to think we are not involved in a relegation battle.”

Bournemouth were visibly desperate for their first win in 10 matches. West Ham, meanwhile, were eventually punished for a half-baked display, despite seemingly rescuing a point through the substitute André Ayew seven minutes from time. Dimitri Payet had said how he grew bored of West Ham’s approach but this was anything but a tedious affair.

Sofiane Feghouli wrestled with the Bournemouth defender Charlie Daniels as he surged into the box, forcing the referee, Robert Madley, to point to the spot inside eight minutes. Fortunately for Feghouli, his clumsiness was not seized upon, with King striking the penalty wide of Darren Randolph’s left post. Forty-eight seconds later, Michail Antonio would open the scoring.

Feghouli picked out Antonio inside the Bournemouth box before the forward, returning to Slaven Bilic’s starting line-up after serving a one-match ban, swivelled with his back to goal before squeezing his shot low into the corner.

Manuel Lanzini was guilty of handing Bournemouth – and King – a chance to redeem themselves. The Argentinian’s misplaced pass on the edge of the area allowed Dan Gosling to start another attack, rounded off by King, who hooked the ball away from José Fonte with his right foot before prodding home with his left. He celebrated with both hands held aloft, appearing to apologise for his penalty miss.

West Ham lost control with Pedro Obiang and Mark Noble booked for cynical fouls. Bilic, too, grew unsporting, kicking the ball towards the advertising hoardings and away from Adam Smith on the touchline.

“The dirty small things, like second balls, they were better at,” Bilic said, after watching his team lose twice in six days. “They are very good at that and we did not match them.”

West Ham were unfortunate, though, to concede another penalty, when Marc Pugh fell theatrically inside the area under Fonte’s watch. Afobe was handed the responsibility by King from 12 yards this time, but his tame strike was saved by Randolph. In doing so, Bournemouth became the first team to miss two penalties in the first half of a Premier League match since Aston Villa, against Wimbledon, in 1998. Howe’s head fell to the floor.

The last time Madley was here he refereed a 4-3 win over Liverpool and while this might not have been such a nostalgic occasion, it was still full of drama. Bournemouth ought to have been out of sight though the half-time interval provided West Ham with a little respite.

The second half followed suit, with Bournemouth taking the lead through King after 48 minutes. Fraser whipped in a free-kick, which Afobe helped into the path of the striker to add his second of the game.

Bilic threw on Sam Byram and Ayew in a bid to halt Bournemouth’s rhythm and they did so, combining to steal an equaliser seven minutes from time. But the hosts, just as in that game against Liverpool in December, were not dead yet, with the substitute Jack Wilshere helping King to find a third – a priceless winner – with seconds of normal time to play.