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Enes Unal scored a sensational free kick in the 90th minute to complete his form Bournemouth 1-1 draw against the Premier League West Ham after an exciting final at the Vitality Stadium.
Lucas Paqueta’s controversial penalty looked to have sealed victory for the Hammers to further ease the pressure on the under-shooting boss Julen Lopeteguithree minutes of time.
But substitute Unal, who scored the equalizer in last weekend’s 2-1 win at Ipswich, curled the ball beautifully from distance at the death.
Andoni Iraola’s hosts missed a flurry of second-half chances to secure a fourth straight top-flight win behind Cherries striker Antoine Semenyo and Hammers captain Jarrod Bowen each hit the woodwork in the opening period.
Bournemouth moved up to sixth – above Aston Villa on goal difference – thanks to the dramatic draw, while West Ham remained 14th.
The Hammers team spent part of the preparation for the game visiting an injured teammate Michael Antonio in the hospital after a recent car accident.
The traveling fans chanted the name of their club’s all-time Premier League goalscorer with nine minutes played – in tribute to Antonio’s side – before almost seeing their side fall behind.
After winning Kepa Arrizabalaga’s long ball on the right wing in the air, Semenyo slid in after some play between Evanilsson and Justin Kluivert, but his low shot hit the outside of the left post.
West Ham, whose players wore black armbands in memory of 15-year-old academy goalkeeper Oscar Ferse, who died last week after a battle with cancer, rattled the crossbar at the other end just three minutes later.
Mohammed Kudus led the visitors’ counter-attack, which culminated in Bowen turning left-footed onto the Cherries’ inside-D crossbar.
England striker Bowen later stung the palms of Bournemouth goalkeeper Kepa, while Carlos Soler and Tomas Soucek fired wide as the Hammers enjoyed the better chances in the first half.
However, the hosts almost took the lead in the 45th minute when Dango Ouattara’s goal was brilliantly saved by West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski after Semeny’s initial effort was deflected over the edge of the box.
Hammers boss Lopetegui was frustrated on the touchline for much of the first half.
His side were pegged back immediately after the restart, with Ouattara, Kluivert, Semenyo and Ryan Christie threatening for the home side.
Hammers striker Niclas Fullkrug was introduced in place of midfielder Soler in an attempt to swing the momentum back in favor of the away team.
Lopetegui was then booked for protesting after Edson Alvarez was shown a yellow card for bringing down Semeni before only Illio Zabarnyi’s last-ditch effort denied Kudus.
Cherries substitute Philip Billing saw an effort blocked by Maximilian Kilman and Fabianski kept out Christie’s follow-up before the game came alive in the closing stages.
West Ham appeared to have squandered a golden chance for a winner when Fullkrug headed straight at Kepa from close range after Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s cross from the right wing.
But, after VAR intervened, referee Christopher Kavanagh watched the incident on a touchline monitor and controversially awarded a penalty for Wan-Bissaka’s cross hitting the outstretched arm of Tyler Adams.
Brazilian international Paqueta calmly slotted the ball into the bottom right corner and caused wild scenes in the away crowd.
However, the lead lasted only three minutes.
Turkish striker Unal scored an impressive equaliser, curling a sumptuous set-piece into the top-left corner from almost 30 yards.