Stoke vs West Ham match report: Slaven Bilic's side let lead slip to miss out on European football

Stoke City 2 West Ham United 1

Giannelli Imbula and Jonathan Walters celebrate Stoke's victory (Getty)

After bidding an emotional farewell to the Boleyn Ground, West Ham may well have kissed goodbye now to their hopes of playing European football in their new stadium following a final day of agonising twists and turns.

Slaven Bilic’s side looked on course to secure Europa League qualification when Michail Antonio’s 13th goal of the season fired them into a first half lead, but it all went horribly wrong as they were rocked by Stoke City’s fightback.

The Hammers must now hope Manchester United win next weekend’s FA Cup Final to earn them a reprieve after Mame Diouf headed a last minute winner which meant they slipped to seventh place in the Premier League table.

“We will be Manchester United fans of course,” said Bilic. “Hopefully, they will win the final because I think we really deserve to be in Europe the way we’ve played this season. It’s something we really wanted and hopefully we’ll be there.”

Antonio's strike broke the deadlock at the Britannia (Getty)

Bilic admitted to being frustrated by the fact that his side didn’t made their dominance count after they had gone in front.

“If it had been basketball, we would have been 15-20pts clear at half time,” he added. “We were a different class after we got the goal in the first half. We should have been more than one goal up with the chances we created.

“Even in the second half, we had that massive chance for Sakho when Shay Given pulled off a great save, but he should have scored. There were also three or four opportunities after they equalised, so it was very frustrating.”

Antonio's impact in the early stages came as a result of him being given more licence to push forward from his defensive duties to compensate for the absence of Dimitri Payet, who had picked up a knock in training.

Manuel Lanzini’s deep corner from the right was headed back to the edge of the six yard box by Winston Reid where Antonio’s neat chest control and sharp turn created the space for him to instinctively apply the finishing touch from close range.

Diouf rises to head home the late winner (Getty)

Bilic’s side sensed the opportunity to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and Antonio was only fractionally too high with a shot from the edge of the box.

Stoke’s supporters were growing increasingly frustrated with their side’s uncharacteristically tame performance and there was another scare for them on the half hour.

Once again, Antonio had a role to play with a cross from the right which picked out Diafra Sakho at the far post, but his attempt to beat Shay Given at his near post saw his shot hit the sidenetting when a second Hammers goal seemed the likely outcome.

On the rare occasion Stoke did threaten in the first half, predictably enough, it was Bojan who raised the volume at the Britannia Stadium by cutting inside from the left to unleash a low shot which Darren Randolph scurrying across his line as it flashed wide.

They had Given to thank for the fact that the deficit remained only one goal shortly after the restart as he pulled off a crucial point blank range save to deny Sakho when he seemed to destined to tuck away a cross from Antonio following his burst down the right.

It proved to be the turning point in the game as Stoke, roused by their skipper Ryan Shawcross, mounted a fightback which had not seemed possible for so long.

West Ham were punished for not closing down Imbula quickly enough as he took aim from long range and sent a low shot skidding past the diving Randolph.

Nevertheless, the Hammers had chances to quickly regain the lead as first Given and then Glenn Whelan produced last-ditch goal-line clearances when set pieces caused Stoke more problems, while Emmanuel Emenike should have done better with a close range header.

Another of Charlie Adam’s audacious chips from just inside his own half almost caught Randolph’s unawares, the ‘keeper tipping it over at the second attempt, but he was to play a part in the winner as his corner drilled in from the left was met firmly by the head of Diouf, ensuring Mark Hughes' side secured a ninth place finish in the Premier League for a third successive time under his stewardship.

Stoke City (4-2-3-1): Given, Cameron (Bardsley, 79), Shawcross, Wollscheid, Pieters, Whelan, Imbula, Walters, Bojan, (Adam, 77), Arnautovic, Joselu 5 (Diouf, 73)

West Ham United (4-1-4-1): Randolph, Tomkins (Moses, 86), Reid, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Kouyate, Antonio, Noble, Lanzini, Sakho (Emenike, 61), Carroll (Valencia, 66)

Referee: M Jones

Attendance: 27,721