West Ham United were denied a second consecutive league victory late on, as a strike from substitute Fabio Borini saw them draw 2-2 with the troubled Sunderland AFC.

The Hammers couldn’t have wished for a better start when André Ayew fired home after five minutes, but the Black Cats surprisingly managed to find themselves back in it with Wahbi Khazri’s excellent effort from a corner in the 25th minute. Ayew and Khazri had their excellent opportunities as the half went on, but it remained level at the break.

Collins punished the Black Cats with his header seconds into the second period, From there Sunderland began to take over as they desperately looked for any sort of positive result. Chances for Victor Anichebe, Didier N’Dong and Jermain Defoe passed them by, but a late effort from Borini managed to secure a crucial but seemingly worthless point for Moyes’ side.

Start as you mean to go on

The Hammers travelled to the Stadium of Light looking to continue their turnaround in form after returning to winning ways last Saturday's victory against Swansea City, and couldn’t have asked for a better start when they took the lead early on.

It was simple enough for Slaven Bilić’s men as Robert Snodgrass pinged it across field for Andy Carroll, the striker’s attempted cross/shot fell perfectly for Ayew. The Ghanaian was left unmarked and it was easy enough to put onto his left foot and slot past Jordan Pickford.

It could have been two in the 20th minute as Snodgrass looked to record his first goals from the Hammers, as the Scotsman was teed up by Manuel Lanzini but he got too much curl on the effort as it went past the near post.

Returning to the side in some style

After an excellent end to last season, Khazri has barely featured in the current campaign with the Algerian making his first start since October but he marked it in some style with an excellent equaliser.

The winger did well to win the corner as he made his way to the by-line, and did well to win the set piece. It was good work in the middle as Anichebe did well to keep the pressure on Darren Randolph, that allowed Khazri to whip in the ball which managed to curl all the way into the bottom corner with help from the far post.

Both sides continued to push on as the half went on, and Ayew will be left scratching his head to how he didn’t get a second before the end of the half. Carroll did well to salvage Sam Byram’s cross and put back into the mixer, Snodgrass was running but Ayew was ahead of him and he managed to send it over from four yards much to the Scotsman’s frustration.

Khazri was handed with a much easier opportunity right at the death as Defoe held the ball up well, the winger did well with the low, curling shot but Randolph managed to get down well and save.

Failing to learn their lesson

Moyes will have reiterated to his side as they headed out for the second half to not crumble like they did for Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s early goal in the the defeat to Manchester United the previous Sunday, but it is clear they hadn’t learnt their lesson as the Hammers regained their lead.

It was simple enough for Collins as managed to make a free run in from the penalty spot, the Welshman did well to make his way through the crowd and head it into the bottom corner.

Giving it all they got

The home side’s performance had been by far their best for some time, and they continued to push forward to try and salvage something to give them a glimmer of hope in their hunt for Premier League survival.

Defoe and Anichebe looked to recapture the good partnership they had earlier in the season, it was good again as Defoe held up the ball in the 53rd minute but the veteran striker held on for too long which saw the chance go begging.

Many inside the Stadium of Light will have thought their opportunity had gone in the 72nd minute, when the Black Cats wasted an excellent opportunity to get an equaliser. It was from Khazri on his return to the side, as he picked the ball out of the air before taking it around Collins. The winger laid it on a plate to N’Dong 12 yards out, but the midfielder managed to send it sailing over the crossbar.

Managing to salvage something

There was major concern for the Black Cats as Jones was took off with a suspected neck injury, that brought around 10 minutes of extra-time, and Sunderland managed to grab their point right at the end of normal time.

Borini had an instantaneous impact as Randolph made a poor clearance once again, under the pressure of Anichebe he got it as far as Borini who hit a sweet first-time effort into the back of net. However despite the jubilation, there was a sense of too little, too late around the Stadium of Light.

A bad end to the afternoon got worse for the Hammers as they were reduced to ten men. Byram had been showing improvement after a run in the side in past few weeks, but showed his worst qualities as he was sent for an early shower for his rash challenge on Adnan Januzaj deep into extra-time.

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About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.