Bafetimbi Gomis stepped up to the mark for
Swansea City as they earned a 1-1 Premier
League draw with West Ham on Saturday.
The French striker has been challenged to grasp
his first-team chance in the absence of Wilfried
Bony, who has departed for the Africa Cup of
Nations with Ivory Coast while rumours of an
imminent transfer to Manchester City persist.
And, after Andy Carroll had opened the scoring
with a superb left-footed strike two minutes
before half-time, Gomis was instrumental in
Swansea's equaliser.
Gomis rose highest from a Gylfi Sigurdsson corner
to head across goal in the 74th minute, with Mark
Noble inadvertently touching the ball into his own
net.
The former Lyon man Gomis produced a French
flag as he celebrated his leveller in an apparent
tribute to the victims of the recent terror attacks
in his homeland.
The result sees Swansea and West Ham remain
ninth and seventh respectively in the Premier
League.
Assistant manager Neil McDonald stood in for the
unwell Sam Allardyce in the West Ham dugout,
but the London club were sent to Swansea with a
new formation – starting with three across the
back, flanked by wide men Carl Jenkinson and
Aaron Cresswell.
Despite including three central defenders in their
starting XI, West Ham almost allowed Gomis to
weave his way through the middle of their
backline inside the opening five minutes.
The France international's eventual strike was
deflected into the path of Nathan Dyer on the
right, but Gomis was unable to get his head to a
dangerous cross from the winger.
Ashley Williams – making his 300th Swansea
appearance – appeared to haul Enner Valencia to
the ground in the build-up to a West Ham free-
kick, although the home captain escaped with a
talking to, before Gomis drew a routine save from
Adrian with a low drive from distance.
West Ham kept their hosts quiet in the opening
stages and had chances to break the deadlock
themselves inside half-an-hour – Jenkinson
blasting over, while Kevin Nolan narrowly cleared
the crossbar with a shot from the edge of the
box.
Wayne Routledge then sent Gomis clear as
Swansea went in search of an opener, but the
striker checked his run twice before showing too
much of the ball to James Tomkins.
Sigurdsson, who was uncharacteristically
anonymous for much of the first half, fired a tame
effort straight at Adrian in the 38th minute, before
Carroll broke the deadlock at the other end.
The towering striker picked the ball up in the box
and turned to face goal, before rifling a left-footed
effort into the corner from 18 yards, although the
visitors had a last-ditch Jenkinson challenge to
thank for denying Routledge an almost instant
reply.
Sigurdsson curled just wide from 25 yards within
30 seconds of the restart, but it was West Ham
who looked most likely to find the net.
Gomis squandered a golden opportunity shortly
before the hour when he blasted over following a
throughball from substitute Marvin Emnes, but he
atoned for that miss in the 74th minute.
Noble made a mess of his attempts to clear
Gomis' header off the line, diverting the ball into
the net to restore parity.
West Ham twice went close to snatching the
three points in the closing stages – Stewart
Downing drawing a great save from Lukasz
Fabianski, before Carroll fired wide after the
Polish goalkeeper had parried a Cresswell free-
kick – but Swansea held on for a share of the
spoils.
0 comments:
Post a Comment