Bournemouth 1-1 West Ham: Dominic Solanke rescues point for Cherries after Jarrod Bowen's stunning opener

New Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola avoided defeat in his first game in charge after Dominic Solanke rescued a 1-1 home draw against West Ham.

Jarrod Bowen gave the Hammers the lead with a stunning strike from outside the box six minutes into the second half.

But Bournemouth rallied to equalise in the 82nd minute, when Solanke rounded Alphonse Areola to tap home and bring the Cherries level.

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Manchester City target Lucas Paqueta, who started at the Vitality Stadium, nearly grabbed a winner for West Ham minutes after Solanke's equaliser only to see his effort hit the post.

Both sides were then forced to settle for a point on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season.

How West Ham were denied opening weekend win

It has been a summer of change for both Bournemouth and West Ham. The south coast club appointed new boss Iraola in June while the Irons lost captain Declan Rice to Arsenal following his £105m exit.

A lack of summer signings saw David Moyes name no debutants in West Ham's starting line-up at the Vitality Stadium, with the sole summer purchase Edson Alvarez not yet available.

But the visitors made a bright start and nearly took a 16th-minute lead as Tomas Soucek saw his outstretched effort bounce back off the inside of the far post and into the grateful arms of Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto.

Both sides had two shots on target in the first half as Areola, preferred ahead of Lukasz Fabianski, palmed away a David Brooks drive.

The Frenchman denied Brooks early in the second half as he tipped over a superb first-time dipping volley from the 26-year-old.

But two minutes later West Ham went ahead through a wonderful curling effort from Bowen. The England forward's left-footed strike came just over two months after his last goal - the Europa Conference League winner against Fiorentina.

The Hammers failed to build on Bowen's opener as Bournemouth regained confidence, with Joe Rothwell clipping the bar from distance.

But the home side's dominance paid off eight minutes from time when substitute Antoine Semenyo's miscued shot fell into the path of Solanke, who controlled wonderfully to then round Areola and equalise.

The woodwork then saved Bournemouth as Paqueta fired against the base of the bar - much to Iraola's relief in his first game in charge.

Moyes: Bowen could become our main striker

Moyes revealed afterwards that he is considering converting Bowen into an out-and-out striker.

He said in his post-match press conference: "It was a brilliant goal. Jarrod is becoming our major goalscorer.

"There's a lot of talk about needing to buy a centre-forward but I'm going to see if Jarrod could do the job.

"He's got the instincts and the sharpness. Hull played him at centre-forward so it's not me trying to be a genius."

Moyes also admitted he does not want to lose Paqueta to Manchester City but understands he might be powerless in his future.

"There's a price on everyone's head somewhere," he said. "We don't want Lucas to go, it's as simple as that.

"But sometimes it's difficult to say to these boys you can't join Manchester City, or Real Madrid, the biggest clubs in the world.

"We've had a bit of news on Lucas but we've had nothing that's made us wobble."

Iraola: We want to improve

Iraola enjoyed his first taste of Premier League football but wants improvement from his new side.

"It's a good point, we wanted three," he said in his post-match press conference. "We were better at the end of both halves.

"After tying the game the momentum was with us and we finished better, but it was one point.

"We improved after the first half and second half we were a bit more direct. We have to improve, this was the first game of the season. We have to grow from this starting point."

Opta stats: Bowen scores first PL away goal since February 2022

• West Ham have drawn their Premier League opening match for the first time since 1994-95, when they drew 0-0 with Leeds. They've now failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last eight Premier League opening matches of the season.
• Jarrod Bowen has scored his first away Premier League goal since February 2022 at Leicester - he had scored 10 consecutive goals in the competition at the London Stadium beforehand. This was his second Premier League goal from outside the box, also scoring one against Watford in February 2022.
• Bournemouth are unbeaten in their last four Premier League opening day matches (W2 D2), with all of those games coming at home. They've also scored in each of those matches.
• Nine of Dominic Solanke's 11 Premier League goals have come in the second half of matches, with his 82nd minute strike versus West Ham his fifth consecutive league goal for Bournemouth to have been scored in the second half.

What's next?

Live Super Sunday

Next up for Bournemouth is a tricky trip to Anfield next Saturday to face Liverpool - a fixture they famously lost 9-0 last season.

Meanwhile, West Ham play their first home game of the campaign when welcoming Chelsea, live on Super Sunday, kick-off 4.30pm.

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