Graham Potter continues to discover life is not a sweet bowl of Cherries at West Ham after having victory prised from his grasp by Bournemouth's two-goal Evanilson at London Stadium on Saturday.
In a see-saw draw, the Brazilian gave the visitors an interval lead before headers from second-half substitute Niclas Füllkrug and skipper Jarrod Bowen looked to have put the hosts back on the road to winning ways.
But Evanilson survived his second Video Assistant Referee review of the afternoon to make it 2-2 and earn the Cherries a late share of the points.
“Overall, it was a day of frustration for us and I can’t say we deserved to win,” said Potter, who made a quartet of changes to his starting line-up afer defeat at Wolves four days earlier.
“At the end of the day, I’m happy with a point albeit we wanted to win all three given we were playing in front of our own crowd.
“I suppose you could say it was a case of the good, the bad and the ugly today - a typical Premier League match that was to and fro and, overall, a hard-fought battle against a Bournemouth team, who are tough to play against with their physicality and running power.”
Shrugging off defeat to relegation-bound Ipswich Town in midweek, Andoni Iraola’s side certainly edged the first half with Evanilson breaking the deadlock seven minutes before the break.
Despite standing suited and booted in his technical area, Potter would have seen nothing smart in the visitors’ opener as a French fumble saw the red-faced Alphonse Areola fail to hold Antoine Semenyo’s angled shot, leaving Evanilson to pounce on the loose ball.
Illia Zabarnyi also rattled the bar before the interval leaving Potter – with virtually his strongest squad available to him – to introduce Emerson ahead of Füllkrug and Carlos Soler.
On the hour, the recently-arrived German striker equalised when he charged onto James Ward-Prowse’s well-flighted corner and powered an unstoppable header past Kepa.
“It’s clear to see the impact Niclas can make,” added Potter after the giant German's third goal of an injury-punctuated campaign.
“He’s a big focal point which makes our attacking play simpler. Niclas hasn’t had a straightforward season and we need to be patient with the minutes we give him but if we can get him fit, firing and enjoying his game he can be really successful for us.”
On 68 minutes, the Hammers gained the upper hand when Mohammed Kudus whipped over a pinpoint, left-wing cross towards Bowen, who outjumped Dean Huijsen to direct a well-placed header just inside the right upright.
As the clock ticked down, the captain’s ninth goal of the season had looked set to secure a much-needed victory but when Huijsen nodded David Brooks’ deep centre towards the far post on 81 minutes, the lunging Evanilson levelled with his 11th strike of the campaign.
“We gave away two cheap goals,” grimaced Potter, whose side – now without a win in four matches - disappointingly remain in 16th ahead of a trip to Premier League leaders Liverpool on Sunday (2pm).
“If you don’t get it right you’ll be vulnerable.
“We’re still getting players back to fitness and up to speed but when we look at the league table, we don’t like what we see although it’s also the reality.
"We have to improve because where we are at the moment just isn’t where we want to be.”
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