Pickford heroics deny Hammers in nervy 0-0 with Everton

West Ham United 0

Everton 0

If ever there was an example of two teams desperate not to lose - rather than being daring enough to try to win - this nervous affair at the London Stadium was it.

Sluggish West Ham, who sit 14th in the Premier League table, shared the spoils with a limp, 16th-placed Everton side in a 0-0 draw which will, hopefully, fade quickly from the memory.

Crysencio Summerville, who came off the bench to inspire a Hammers victory in what proved to be Erik ten Hag's final game in charge of Manchester United here a fortnight ago, had the best chance of the game - smacking the ball against Jordan Pickford's right-hand post midway through the second half.

At the other end Jesper Lindstrom's close-range header well saved by Lukasz Fabianski was the best the Toffeemen had to offer.

That win over United two weeks ago was the highlight of what has been an otherwise disappointing campaign for Wes Ham so far.

Indeed, unless things improve quickly, boss Julen Loputegui could find he is soon following ten Hag out of the Premier League's revolving managerial door.

The game's first chance fell to the visitors after seven minutes.

Everton won the ball deep inside their half as the Hammers pushed forward, allowing Lindstrom to release Abdoulaye Doucoure, but his touch was heavy and Summerville got across to block the shot.

It took West Ham all of 44 minutes to produce anything whatsoever for their fans to get excited about.

Michail Antonio powered through the Everton midfield and laid the ball off to Jarrod Bowen, whose shot was well saved low down to his left by Jordan Pickford.

Bowen's next effort was a shot early in the second half which was deflected wide off James Tarkowski - before a big chance for the Hammers.

West Ham fans appealed for a penalty after Summerville went down in the area. Referee Stuart Attwell rightly waved away the spot-kick appeals, but the ball broke to Guido Rodriguez, whose long-range shot was the highlight of the game thus far, well saved by Pickford.

But despite that effort, Everton looked the more likely scorers in the opening stages of the second period.

Vitalii Mykolenko lashed at a shot which was deflected wide, before Lindstrom's header following a cross from the left was superbly saved by Fabianski.

Loputegui's response was a triple substitution - on coming Danny Ings, Vladimir Coufal and Carlos Soler.

That almost immediately led to the best chance of the game, when former Leeds man Summerville got in behind the Everton defence and saw his shot cannon off the right-hand post.

Pickford preserved Everton's point at the end, first pushing away a fierce shot from Ings, then saving acrobatically from the same man's deflected shot with seconds remaining, but in truth neither side deserved to win, the spoils were shared and the boos from the departing West Ham fans summed up the feeling inside the stadium at the end.

Teams:

West Ham: Fabianski, Summerville (Guilherme 83), Antonio (Ings 67), Paqueta, Bowen, Rodriguez (Soler 67), Todibo, Kilman, Soucek, Wan-Bissaka (Coufal 67), Emerson

Everton: Pickford, Tarkowski, Mangala, Calvert-Lewin (Beto 75), Ndiaye, Doucoure (Harrison86), Young, Mykolenko, Gueye, Lindstrom, Branthwaite

Referee: Stuart Attwell