Andoni Iraola's first game as Bournemouth manager ended in a 1-1 draw after a late Dominic Solanke goal cancelled out Jarrod Bowen's thunderbolt.
The draw extends Bournemouth's impressive run of not losing an opening day fixture since 2017, with Solanke's late goal enough to take a point from the UEFA Europa Conference League winners.
Iraola named two debutants in his first Premier League side, with fullbacks Milos Kerkez and Max Aarons both starting. Aarons joined the Cherries this week after hijacking Leeds’ deal for the right-back.
Bournemouth (4-3-3): Neto, Aarons, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Kerkez, Rothwell, Philip, Brooks, Christie, Anthony, Solanke
There were no new signings in David Moyes’ side, with the Conference League champions only signing one player in the transfer window in Edson Alvarez, who wasn’t registered in time for this fixture. Lucas Paqueta started in midfield for the hammers, despite interest from Manchester City.
West Ham (4-3-3): Areola, Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson, Soucek, Paqueta, Bowen, Fornals, Benrahma, Antonio
£25 million Bournemouth signing Alex Scott was unveiled to the Vitality Stadium crowd before the game, with the midfielder not being able to play due to injury.
Bowen created the first chance of the game in the 5th minute, driving through the Bournemouth midfield and shooting from outside the box, but the winger dragged it well wide.
Bournemouth nearly opened the scoring in the 12th minute when a poor touch from Aguerd gave the ball to Dominic Solanke, the striker played the ball to David Brooks but his shot was narrowly wide.
West Ham hit the post minutes later when Benrahma played the ball to Soucek, and the Czech’s shot bounced off the inside of the post and rolled across the goal line, the ball fell to the hands of Neto and the Cherries managed to escape going behind.
West Ham were the better team in the opening 25 minutes, but as the half grew on Bournemouth came into the half, with Christie cutting in from the right and shooting directly into the hands of Areola.
Kurt Zouma nearly put the ball into his own net on the half hour mark after tussling with Solanke. The Frenchman managed to put the ball out for a corner which came to nothing.
Benrahma continued to be the danger man for the Hammers, who cut in from the left and unleashed a shot that was inches over the bar.
The first yellow card of the game came in the 39th minute when Bowen was booked for delaying the restart of play.
Brooks forced a good save from Areola five minutes from the break when the ball fell to the Welshman on the edge of the area, the winger shot low and the goalkeeper parried well.
The game was scoreless at the break. West Ham had been the better team on the whole, but Bournemouth showed promise in some of their counter attacks. Soucek had been the best player and came closest to scoring in the first half, his shoot unlucky not to give the Hammers the lead. Bournemouth’s best player had been Brooks, who had an interesting battle with Emerson down the right-hand side.
Antonio was booked early into the second half for his late clip on Kerkez. David Brooks forced a fantastic save out of Areola minutes later when Coufal’s header fell to the Welsh international, he struck his volley well but the goalkeeper was equal to it and tipped over.
But it was Jarrod Bowen who would strike first with a wonderful strike from outside the area. Soucek played the ball to the winger on the edge of the box and he lashed it past an outstretched Neto to give the visitors the lead in the 51st minute.
Areola made another save when Max Aarons played a lovely through ball for Solanke, who from a tight angle forced a save out of the Frenchman. Bournemouth were wasteful from the resulting corner.
Bournemouth received a free kick in a dangerous position when Paqueta fouled Max Aarons. Philip’s shot was deflected off the wall and for a corner which came to nothing. The Cherries also made their first substitutes when Mepham replaced an injured Senesi, and Anthony made way for a debuting Justin Kluivert.
The hosts responded well to going behind, in the 65th minute Rothwell cut inside and struck a shot past a beaten Areola, but the woodwork denied them as the ball struck the crossbar.
Andoni Iraola made another change with just over 20 minutes to play, with Kieffer Moore replacing Ryan Christie, who had played well up until that point.
Bournemouth made their final changes five minutes later with Semenyo and Hill replacing Brooks and Aarons, who went down injured minutes before.
Towards the final ten minutes the Cherries had West Ham pinned back in their own half, Solanke dinked the ball in from the edge of the area but couldn’t find the head of Moore.
Solanke equalised with eight minutes to play when Semenyo played the ball through to Solanke, the Englishman did really well to control the ball and take it around Areola and slot home. The Vitality Stadium erupted as the striker grabbed the first goal of the Iraola era.
Straight after West Ham started attacking, and after a sloppy pass from Mepham, Lucas Paqueta hit the outside of the post.
Emerson was booked with three minutes left after a tactical foul on Semenyo.
As the game hit 90 minutes, Bournemouth looked like the side that would grab a winner, constantly applying pressure to the visitors and forcing Areola into action with the Frenchman claiming plenty of crosses.
There was a late penalty claim when Cornet went down in the box, but the Ivorian was offside.
The draw leaves the Cherries in 6th on the full time whistle, with the result keeping up Bournemouth's impressive record of not losing an opening day fixture since 2017. Both teams played their fair share of good football, with the visitors starting off the better side but by the end the Cherries looked clear favourites to grab a winner. On the whole both teams will be happy with a draw but will think that they had a claim to all three points. Bournemouth's next fixture is away to Liverpool on the 19th of August.