West Ham United debutant Kalvin Phillips had an eventful debut as his mistake in the first two minutes saw Bournemouth lead in their Premier League fixture on Thursday.

Dominic Solanke stole the ball from Kalvin Phillips in the box before stroking home to earn the game’s first goal. Kalvin Phillips joined West Ham on loan from Manchester City days back, and despite the applause that followed his move, his Hammers career started on the wrong foot.

Just three minutes in, the England international attempted a pass backward towards the goalkeeper, but the loose pass presented Dominic Solanke the opportunity to finish off one of the easiest chances.

Initially, the referee blew to disallow the goal for a foul, interrupting Bournemouth’s celebrations; VAR awarded the goal. The first half was for the Cherries as they forced West Ham’s Alphonse Areola to saves on multiple occasions before the break.

The Hammers had won three and drew two of their last five fixtures in the Premier League, but it looked like their unbeaten run in five games was destined to end until West Ham showed some attacking intent after the restart.

However, they didn’t get the goal needed until the hour mark as a direct run from Mohammed Kudus into the Bournemouth box led to a penalty after an infringement by Lloyd Kelly.

James Ward-Prowse duly converted after a VAR check, but despite the goal, the second half remained evenly contested at the London Stadium, as the visitors maintained an attacking threat.

They came close through Ryan Christie who showed excellent ball control on the spin before smashing an effort narrowly wide.

West Ham recovered from a slow start to share the spoils, leaving David Moyes’ side seven points off fifth-placed Aston Villa directly above them. Meanwhile, Andoni Iraola’s side will face Nottingham Forest at the Vitality Stadium this weekend.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu