West Ham United have fought back against 10-man Sunderland to deny the hosts a first win of the Premier League season with a 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light.
The form heavily pointed towards an away victory, with Sunderland winless at the bottom of the Premier League with four losses in a row and West Ham fourth in the table having won all three away matches in the league so far.
However, after a fiesty opening which saw Hammers captain Mark Noble booked after three minutes, the hosts took the lead after 10 minutes when Yann M'Vila played a free kick into the path of Steven Fletcher, who fired his side's first league goal since August 29 past Adrian for the opener.
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That was just the second goal that West Ham had conceded away from home in the league, but after Fabio Borini fired into the side-netting from Ola Toivonen's clever pass, that number became three midway through the half.
M'Vila recorded his second assist of the afternoon by playing in Jeremain Lens, but it was all about the finish as Lens doubled his side's lead in style, lobbing Adrian from the edge of the area via the underside of the crossbar.
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Sunderland looked a transformed side, and it could even have been three just minutes later when Adrian turned away John O'Shea's header, before Borini could only slice wide after he was played through on goal by Fletcher.
However, they handed the Hammers a lifeline in first-half injury time as three defenders could not stop Victor Moses crossing for Carl Jenkinson to fire home and halve the deficit seconds before the whistle.
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That goal gave the atmosphere a decidedly nervy feel at the break and after Manuel Lanzini had fired wide from 20 yards, things began to unravel for the hosts when Lens was shown a second yellow card for a poor challenge on Winston Reid after 57 minutes.
Any thoughts that Sunderland might be able to hold on with 10 man were dashed just three minutes later, as Dimitri Payet smashed home the rebound to complete the comeback after Costel Pantilimon had parried Lanzini's shot.
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Substitute Nikica Jelavic prodded over from Payet's ball and Aaron Cresswell called Pantilimon into action as West Ham looked to complete Sunderland's misery, but in the end, the Hammers had to settle for a point as Sunderland's search for a first league win continued.
Tom Nightingale
