Wilson shines as Bournemouth beat West Ham 2-1

West Ham, in contrast, slipped to the bottom of the table after a second successive defeat following a 4-0 drubbing by Liverpool in the opening round, piling early pressure on their new manager Manuel Pellegrini.

The Hammers looked set to claim their first win of the season after Marko Arnautovic drilled in a 33rd-minute penalty, awarded by referee Stuart Wilson after the linesman confirmed that Nathan Ake tripped Javier Hernandez.

But the tide turned in the second half after Austria striker Arnautovic wasted an excellent chance to double West Ham’s lead on the stroke of halftime, as keeper Asmir Begovic did well to save his fizzing low shot.

Wilson, who also missed a sitter in the opening half with the score 0-0, produced a breathtaking equaliser on the hour.

The striker powered his way past four defenders after picking the ball up at the halfway line and threaded it through the legs of West Ham keeper Lukasz Fabianski.

West Ham were reeling and defender Steve Cook completed Bournemouth’s comeback six minutes later, stooping to head a close-range header into the roof of the net off the ground after Ryan Fraser floated in a free kick from the right.

Wilson, who scored a hat-trick in Bournemouth’s 4-3 defeat of West Ham in August 2015 which was his team’s first-ever Premier League win, was delighted.

“We made hard work of it, being 1-0 down is never easy away from home and we showed great character,” he told the BBC.

“Nice for little old Bournemouth. Now it is about being consistent, we have another tough game next week,” he added referring to the home tie with Everton and also gave his account of the wonder-goal.

“I was stretching for the ball, turned, started running and it was opening up for me. I saw a gap burst through and showed composure at the end.”

West Ham face an uphill task in the next round when they visit city rivals Arsenal and if their early form is anything to go by, the Hammers are in for a tough season.