Everton were forced to share the spoils with West Ham United after playing out to a goalless draw at the London Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday, writes DYLAN APPOLIS.
Slaven Bilic opted to make a few changes to the starting XI that drew 2-2 with Sunderland, with little left to be played for in the league. Ronald Koeman made only one alteration to his side, bringing in Maarten Stekelenburg for Joel Robles.
The match got off to a slow tempo in the opening exchanges of the match, as neither side could keep hold of the ball for lengthy periods.
In the 13th minute Stekelenburg was caught in no-man’s land as a cross to the back post was almost met by Cheikhou Kouyate, but the delivery proved too strong for the midfielder.
Everton had the majority of possession in the first half hour, but struggled to break down the West Ham defence in the final third.
The Hammers produced another effort at goal in the 30th minute, when Kouyate unleashed a strike from 20 yards out. However, his effort drifted just wide of Stekelenburg’s post.
After the first 45 minutes of the match, neither side could break the deadlock as the match went into the half-time interval locked at 0-0.
West Ham started the second-half as they ended the first, when Manuel Lanzini slammed the ball towards goal, but Phil Jagielka showed no fear to keep the score goalless.
Everton had their first real chance of the game in the 54th minute when Ademola Lookman found Ross Barkley, but the midfielder took too long with his shot and was eventually shut down.
The Toffees got their second effort of the match in the 70th minute as Lookman picked the ball up on the halfway line and carried the play towards the West Ham box before unleashing a shot at goal, but his shot flew wide from 25 yards out.
Fonte had a great chance to seal the win for the Hammers in the 89th minute when Lanzini picked out the defender at the back post, but he was only able to head into the hands of Stekelenburg.
Both sides were unable to find the winning goal in the closing stages of the match as they shared the spoils at the London Stadium.
Meanwhile, Bournemouth cruised to a comfortable 4-0 win over Middlesbrough at the Goldsands Stadium through goals by Joshua King, Benik Afobe, Marc Pugh and Charlie Daniels.
A 10-men Hull City side secured a 2-0 victory over Watford when Oumar Niasse saw a straight red card, before goals by Lazar Markovic and Sam Clucas handed the Tigers all three points at the Kingston Communications Stadium.
A missed penalty by Marko Arnautovic saw Stoke City fall to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of a struggling Swansea City side at the Liberty Stadium, courtesy of goals in either half by Fernando Llorente and Tom Caroll.
Image: Premier League website
