Swansea vs West Ham match report: Andy Carroll stunner not enough to give Sam Allardyce reason to smile after Swans battle back

Swansea 1 West Ham 1: Allardyce missed the trip to the Liberty Stadium with a chest infection but Bafetimbi Gomis' equalisier will have only made him feel sicker

Andy Carroll's shot evades the diving Lukasz Fabianski (Getty Images)

Andy Carroll again proved a thorn in Swansea’s side, but his stunning goal was not enough to secure all three points for the Londoners. His wonderfully taken opener had looked set to give Sam Allardyce, watching at home on computer as he continues to be laid low by a chest infection, the perfect tonic.

But Bafétimbi Gomis rescued Swansea when his header, inadvertently turned in by Mark Noble on his own line, earned the Welsh club a battling point.

It came at the end of a week where Carroll had missed the FA Cup trip to Everton after kicking the ground in training, before cutting his finger making lunch.

But there was no such clumsiness about his strike, and Hammers assistant manager, Neil MacDonald, who was in constant touch with Allardyce by mobile phone while his boss passed on advice, feels it is time people appreciated more than just the England forward’s physical gifts. “The first touch was great, he showed fast feet to get half a yard and he sticks it in,” he insisted.

Carroll strikes the ball home from long range to put West Ham ahead (Getty Images)

The striker brought down Stewart Downing’s cross before beating Ashley Williams, Tom Carroll and Lukasz Fernandez to turn and dispatch a left-footed shot into the top corner. It was his seventh goal against Swansea, and his third this season.

But Swansea pressed insistently during the second half and eventually a leveller came. West Ham were a man light as James Collins had treatment for a knock to the head, and Gomis rose powerfully to meet Gylfi Sigurdsson’s corner, with Noble unable to keep it out.

Bafetimbi Gomis rises highest to head in the equalising goal (Getty Images)

The French forward then ran to the crowd to retrieve a Tricolour, which he raised to the sky in memory of those killed in the Paris terrorist attacks.

Swansea (4-2-3-1): Fabianski; Rangel, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor; Britton, Carroll; Dyer (Emnes, 62), Sigurdsson (Oliveira, 75), Routledge (Barrow, 62); Gomis.

West Ham (5-3-2): Adrian; Jenkinson, Tomkins, Collins, Reid, Cresswell; Nolan (Poyet, 82), Noble, Downing; Carroll, Valencia (Amalfitano, 70).

Referee: Mike Dean.

Man of the match: Carroll.

Match rating: 6/10.