West Ham 2-0 Bournemouth: Kurt Zouma scores controversial goal as Hammers beat Cherries

West Ham moved up seven places to 10th in the Premier League table as Kurt Zouma’s controversial goal helped them beat Bournemouth.

However, after a check by the video assistant referee the goal was allowed to stand as they deemed the handball accidental and said it had not directly led to a goal.

Nevertheless, Bournemouth caretaker boss Gary O’Neil was upset with the decision and was booked after talking to referee David Coote as the teams left the field at half-time.

The hosts were awarded a penalty in the 91st minute when Bournemouth’s Jordan Zemura was deemed to have handled the ball when sliding in trying to block a cross, with Said Benrahma converting from the spot to secure victory.

It was a tough evening for the Cherries, now without a win in three matches, as they lost striker Dominic Solanke and goalkeeper Neto to injury after only 45 minutes.

To make things worse for the visitors, they thought they should have had a penalty themselves when the score was 1-0 after the ball hit Ben Johnson’s arm, but their appeals were rejected.

‘It’s a handball, that’s a fact’

The game’s first controversial moment came in the 45th minute when West Ham had a corner from the right and Kehrer went for a header but, with his eyes closed and his hands tight in front of him, the ball hit his hands.

Bournemouth defender Chris Mepham did not get much distance on a clearing header, and when West Ham’s Tomas Soucek headed it towards goal the ball glanced off the heads of firstly Flynn Downes and then Zouma before going into the net, with the goal given after a VAR check.

As he remonstrated with the officials at half-time, O’Neil, a former West Ham player who has been in caretaker charge of Bournemouth since the end of August, insisted: “It’s a handball, that’s a fact.”

The Hammers had been the better side when the game was goalless with Benrahma firing a free-kick into the side netting, Aaron Cresswell heading over Soucek’s cross and Cresswell seeing Neto push over a shot.

Bournemouth’s best chance when it was 0-0 saw Solanke collect the ball inside his own half and run at the home defence before shooting at Lukasz Fabianski.

But Solanke went over on his ankle as he shot and had to be substituted after 45 minutes.

O’Neil then had to change his goalkeeper as Neto, who had been struggling with a hamstring problem in the first half, was forced off, with Mark Travers coming on at the start of the second half.

It was Travers’ first appearance since the 9-0 thrashing by Liverpool at Anfield on 27 August in what turned out to be former manager Scott Parker’s last match in charge of the Cherries.

Travers made a good save when he parried a shot from Declan Rice as West Ham pushed for a second goal.

Without Solanke, Bournemouth, now 14th in the Premier League, saw Jaidon Anthony head at Fabianski with a rare chance, before Benrahma’s late penalty secured West Ham’s place in the top half.

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