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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Matt Verri

West Ham 1-1 Burnley: Tomas Soucek earns frustrated Hammers point against managerless Clarets

Tomas Soucek earns his side a point as Burnley began life without Sean Dyche with a 1-1 against West Ham at the London Stadium.

The opening period was marred by a serious leg injury to Ashley Westwood which left players visibly upset, with the visitors taking the lead soon after play was restarted through Weghorst.

Maxwel Cornet then missed a penalty that he had won and was made to regret that later in the match when Soucek bundled his side level.

It leaves West Ham in seventh, five points behind Tottenham in fourth having played a game more, while Burnley are still three points adrift of Premier League safety.

In their first match since the surprise sacking of Dyche, Burnley made a positive start with Cornet leading a couple of nice breaks.

West Ham went closest to opening the scoring though, as Jarrod Bowen first had a shot blocked and then from the rebound was denied brilliantly by Nick Pope.

Midway through the first-half, play was stopped for ten minutes as Westwood received treatment. Nikola Vlasic, who challenged the Burnley man for the ball, was in tears as players from both sides consoled him.

Shortly after the restart, the Clarets took the lead. Jay Rodriguez was denied by the woodwork from a corner, but the ball looped up and Weghorst rose highest to head home.

The visitors should have doubled their lead in first-half stoppage time, as Cornet was brought down by Lukasz Fabianski following a rapid counter-attack. He stuttered and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way, only to drag his penalty wide.

West Ham improved after the break, with Soucek and Jarrod Bowen both on separate occasions finding themselves inches away from turning the ball home at the back post.

Michail Antonio headed an effort wide, before Rice flicked a free-kick just past the far post. Burnley then missed a huge chance to extend their advantage, when Cornet cut it back for Rodriguez and he couldn’t hit the target from inside the box.

Those misses looked even more costly when Soucek equalises with 15 minutes remaining. Manuel Lanzini’s free-kick was flicked by Weghorst into Soucek and he knew nothing about it as it hit the back of the net.

Cornet sent a couple of efforts wide late on as he looked to make up for the disastrous penalty, while Said Benrahma was also unable to make the most of a huge chance as Nathan Collins came sliding in.

Nick Pope made a stunning save to deny Issa Diop in the final minutes, palming the ball away, while the home fans were left frustrated again as the goalkeeper kept out Antonio’s effort as the striker found himself clean through on goal.

Antonio has not scored in the league since New Year’s Day and that miss was the last chance West Ham got, as it finished level after a chaotic conclusion.

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