Bilic bemoans ´cheap´ equaliser

Share West Ham manager Slaven Bilic bemoaned Stoke City’s “cheap” equaliser as Adrian’s howler gifted the Potters an equaliser in a 1-1 Premier League draw at London Stadium on Saturday.

The hosts led through a Glenn Whelan own-goal before Bojan’s 74th-minute leveller, when the Hammers keeper unadvisedly rushed out and missed an attempted clearance.

Bilic, though, acknowledged West Ham deserved no more than a point after they struggled to create chances and lacked fluency, particularly during a dismal first half. “A point is a point and it’s a fair result. But we were looking for three points. It wasn’t a good game of football and no team deserved to win,” Bilic told Sky Sports.

“Our first half was flat to be fair, we didn’t start on the front foot and in the second half we improved a lot. We changed a little bit, we put on a couple of strikers then scored a goal. “Until they equalised we played good and created some good moments. We were sharp but then we conceded from our point of view a very cheap goal. It cost us the result.”

The Croatian claimed he could not understand why West Ham played so badly in the first period. “We looked sharp in training, we looked sharp and fit and good in our last few games. There was really no reason.”

He also refused to blame Adrian despite the shot-stopper’s error costing his side a valuable three points as they continue to hover above the relegation zone.

“It was a mistake,” he said. “It’s a game of mistakes and mistakes happen. Unfortunately he made a mistake because he misjudged the ball and the timing and they used it to score a goal.

“From our point of view we are disappointed as it was very cheap in a crucial moment of the game.” The point lifts West Ham to 16th place ahead of a tricky run of league fixtures against Tottenham, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool, as well as a League Cup quarter-final against United at Old Trafford.

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