English Premier League: Andy Carroll rescues West Ham; earn draw
By Orri Benatar
West Ham and Stoke City faced off at London Stadium in a little Monday night football. Both teams were seeking points with relegation looming.
The first half of this Premier League contest could be described with multiple synonyms of the word boring. Tedious, mundane, dull, and many more. Nothing happened. Let’s move on to the second half. Both teams brought some fresh blood up front to try and steal the three points to move up the table. David Moyes brought in Javier Hernandez for the Hammers while Paul Lambert pushed in Peter Crouch for Mortiz Bauer.
Crouch proved himself useful with this poke nine minutes after being subbed on. Crouch’s first goal since November was possible by another ghastly blunder by his former England teammate Joe Hart. Hart has had a season to forget at the London Stadium.
West Ham needed a goal as a loss would put them closer to relegation. Another former Three Lions target man checked into the game late in the second half. Andy Carroll was subbed on in the 86th minute for his first appearance since January 4th. Carroll made it a good day for big guys and a great day for the Claret and Blue. This volley clinched the draw for the Hammers and Carroll’s first goal since a brace on January 2nd against West Brom.
Hammers need more points to feel secure
The draw puts the Hammers seven points away from the bottom three. West Ham is unbeaten in three straight and their recent good form will be tested in two Sunday games. Next Sunday, it’s Arsenal. The Sunday after that, it’s the champions, Man City. Moyes does need to develop some kind of strategy so games aren’t getting rescued by Andy Carroll at the death. West Ham is more talented than Stoke and should have had this home fixture down as a simple win.
But yet again, was up at 5 (I live in Australia) after not getting in from work until midnight, to watch Moyes try and defend against a relegation threatened side at home for 90 minutes... pic.twitter.com/Tb8HmRieQD
— Green St. Hammers (@GreenStHammers) April 16, 2018
Stoke needs help and fast
The Potters remain in 19th and are five points behind 17th placed Swansea City. Stoke does break a four-game losing run with the draw but extends their winless run to ten. Their next two games will be daunting tasks. They next face Burnley on Sunday, one of the best defenses in the EPL. On Saturday the 28th, they get to play one of the best offenses at Liverpool. The Potters need help big time. Xherdan Shaqiri is a goner but they can still save the season with a couple of wins and a draw or two. A final day meeting with Swansea City could be a do or die match to decide promotion and relegation.