West Ham vs Stoke match report: Adrian blunder costs Hammers as Bojan takes advantage

West Ham 1 Stoke 1: The Hammers took the lead through Michail Antonio

Bojan was able to finish on his return to the side (Getty)

After the trials and tribulations of the past month, West Ham’s future remains no clearer - and Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Stoke undoubtedly reaffirmed the uncertainty surrounding the club.

Today’s match was a must-win for the Hammers, with an upcoming fixture list that makes for a daunting read.

Up next, the Hammers have Tottenham at home, Manchester United away, Arsenal at home and Liverpool away as their next four league games - with another trip to Old Trafford in the EFL Cup for good measure.

While the resurgent Stoke may have headed into Saturday’s game on the back of three successive Premier League victories, the Potters represented a prime opportunity for the Hammers to take three points before being thrown head first into a challenging month of fixtures.

Unfortunately for the home side, it wasn’t to be.

It was a slow and cumbersome first half that failed to excite. Both sides struggled to stamp their authority in the opening 45 minutes, with neither team capable of dominating the direction of play.

After a subdued 10 minutes, Michail Antonio finally provided the crowd with some form of entertainment as the defender met Dimitri Payet’s corner ball with an attempted volleyed effort.

Dimitri Payet has an effort from a free kick (Getty)

Positioned on the edge of the Stoke box, the player fluffed his lines and failed to make any form of connection.

Erik Pieters swooped in to claim the loose ball but was subsequently brought down afterwards by a visibly frustrated Antonio.

Two minutes later, Stoke finally managed to break the West Ham backline as Jonathan Walters was threaded in behind courtesy of a neat ball from midfielder Joe Allen.

Cutting in from the right flank, he fired a low-driven ball across the face of the goal in search of the incoming Wilfried Bony. Cheikhou Kouyate was on hand though and proceeded to throw his body in the way of the delivery.

On the 25 minute mark, Manuel Lanzini finally sprung into life and after working the ball inwards from the right, the space opened up for the Argentine to try his luck.

Spurred on by the home crowd, Lanzini let loose but much like Joe Allen’s effort seven minutes earlier, the ball sailed high over the Stoke goal to find row Z of the London Stadium.

Nonetheless, West Ham persisted and went on to enjoy their closest chance of the first half courtesy of another Payet corner. With the ball pinged in from the left, it was Angelo Ogbonna who rose highest but his headed attempt to the right of the goal was denied thanks to Lee Grant’s lightening reactions.

As the final 20 minutes of the first half dragged on, the quality of the football on offer declined, with repeated fouls holding up play much to the annoyance of an increasingly restless crowd.

Both sides looked for that incisive ball in between the centre-backs but neither could deliver. Instead, the two teams spent much of the remaining minutes skirting around the centre of the park.

With one minute to go on the clock, West Ham were handed the chance to take the lead after Lanzini was brought down by a marauding Ryan Shawcorss on the edge of the Stoke box.

Fans sensed a goal as Payet stepped up but the Frenchman was unable to lift the ball up and over the wall, with his effort shaving the crossbar and bringing to close the first 45 minutes.

The second half proceeded in a similar vein. Chances were few and far in between, and the frustration of both sets of fans started to bubble over as each failed pass or touch was met with hostile derision.

Antonio’s goal, coming in the 64th minute, soon gave the home fans something to cheer about, however, and the mood in the London Stadium switched in an instant.

Antonio gives West Ham the lead (Getty)

Up to his usual tricks down the left, Payet drifted in a ball to the near left-hand side post where a waiting Antonio pounced. Twisting his body to meet it, the Englishman managed to guide the ball to into the back of the net with the softest of headers.

Having so far failed to break down the Hammers, Stoke sought to mix up matters and Peter Crouch and Bojan Krkic were thrown on.

Having introduced new legs to the side, Stoke looked rejuvenated and in the 75th minute, the score was levelled.

After promising build-up play down the centre of the pitch, Walters broke in behind the West Ham defence from the right and stormed into the home side’s box before poking the ball over Adrian who had rushed from his line.

Looping over the West Ham keeper, the ball fell fortuitously for Bojan Krkic and from four yards out, the substitute stuck out his leg to fire the ball into an open goal.

With 15 minutes left on the clock, the game concluded in a similar fashion to how it had started. Dogged and scrappy. The tempo may have been raised but as had been the case for much of the match, the quality was missing.

For both sides, it was an afternoon to forget.