West Ham 1-1 West Brom: Points shared at Upton Park

By Charlotte Marsh

Monday 30 November 2015 08:18, UK

Mauro Zarate scored a stunning free-kick as West Ham drew 1-1 with West Bromwich Albion at Upton Park.

Winston Reid diverted Rickie Lambert's strike into his own net early in the second half to level the scores, and despite plenty of chances for both sides, neither could find the winner as the points were shared.

West Ham stay eighth after the weekend's fixtures, but have gone above Everton, while West Brom stay in 13th, one point behind Stoke and Watford.

The Hammers are now unbeaten in their last five on home turf but have gone four league games without a win, while Tony Pulis' men are now unbeaten in two.

It was certainly a game of two halves, with West Ham superior in the first and West Brom looking better in the second.

The Baggies started the game with four centre-backs in defence, with Jonny Evans deputising at left-back and Craig Dawson on the right.

West Ham had the first chance of the game around the 10-minute mark, and it was a mistake by Jonas Olsson that gifted the ball to Diafra Sakho, who played in Victor Moses to run towards goal.

The Chelsea loanee in turn picked out Manuel Lanzini to his left, and he fed the ball through to Zarate on a tight angle but his shot could only find the side of the net. It was the first flash of what the Hammers attack had in store.

At the other end, Zarate lost out to Darren Fletcher, who picked out an advancing Salomon Rondon at the edge of the box, but it ended up going just wide of the post.

West Ham struck in the 17th minute as Zarate fired a sublime free-kick, awarded after Gareth McAuley had held back Sakho, over the top of the Albion wall and into the net.

It was all West Ham for the remainder of the first half and they could have scored a quick second when Aaron Cresswell sent in a cross from the left, picking out the run of Cheikhou Kouyate, who got his head on the ball but it whistled past the far post.

Waves of West Ham attacks kept coming and a Claudio Yacob mistake gifted the ball to the impressive Lanzini, who shot from just inside the box but Boaz Myhill made a reaction save with his shins.

Zarate and Lanzini were the stars of the first half and they linked up once again a few minutes later, with Zarate nicking the ball from just outside the box, picking out Lanzini for the shot but the Baggies 'keeper was there again to make a good save.

Pulis knew he had to change something after being over-run in the opening 45 minutes, replacing Stephane Sessegnon with Lambert and he was rewarded for his swap just four minutes into the second half.

Carl Jenkinson's clearing header was met by man-of-the-match Darren Fletcher, who kept the ball alive, knocking it down to Lambert who shot from distance with the effort taking a huge deflection off Reid.

The ball originally looked to be going wide but the West Ham captain, who was making his 150th appearance for the club, diverted it towards goal and caught goalkeeper Adrian off-guard.

The Hammers 'keeper was kept busy after that, making two great saves in quick succession to keep West Brom from taking the lead.

Lambert took a free-kick that flew under the wall but Adrian was there to palm it away before saving from a Rondon header at point-blank range, after another great through ball from Fletcher, while James McClean skied the rebound.

However, it was West Ham who had the better chances to nick the winner in the final 15 minutes.

Yacob, who misses next weekend's game against Spurs after picking up a fifth yellow card, again gave the ball away to Moses in the middle of the park and he played in Sakho on his right, but the striker fired it into the side of the net and injured himself in the process, eventually being replaced by Nikica Jelavic.

Moses had another glorious chance in the 89th minute and after a bit of pinball in the area, Lanzini looped the ball across the box to find the winger, who hit the ball on the volley first time but his effort fizzed wide.

McClean also had the chance to poke home the winner in injury-time after being played in by Lambert, with Cresswell's late free-kick well saved by Myhill as the game ended all square in east London.

Player ratings

West Ham: Adrian (7), Jenkinson (6), Reid (6), Ogbonna (6), Cresswell (7), Obiang (6), Kouyate (6), Zarate (8), Lanzini (7), Moses (7), Sakho (6).

Subs: Antonio (5), Carroll (6), Jelavic (5).

West Brom: Myhill (7), Dawson (6), Evans (7), Olsson (6), McAuley (6), McClean (7), Yacob (5), Fletcher (8), Morrison (6), Sessegnon (5), Rondon (7).

Subs: Lambert (7)

Man of the Match: Darren Fletcher