West Ham 2-2 Norwich: Last gasp Kouyate spares Hammers' blushes

The midfielder struck deep into injury-time after
Nathan Redmond's goal looked to have given the
visitors a shock winCheikhou Kouyate's 93rd
minute equaliser spared West Ham's blushes as
they salvaged a late 2-2 draw at home to
Norwich.
Slaven Bilic's men have established themselves
as the Premier League's most accomplished
away side in the early weeks of the new season,
reeling off wins at Arsenal, Liverpool and
Manchester City.
But it has been a different story at Upton Park,
and they were fortunate to escape with a point
after a lacklustre display on Saturday.
Nathan Redmond appeared to have claimed all
three points for Norwich with a superb goal seven
minutes from time, but Kouyate was on hand to
snatch a draw when he slammed home from
close range after John Ruddy failed to deal with a
deep free-kick from the right.
Robbie Brady had given Norwich an early lead
with his first goal for the club, before Diafra Sakho
equalised in the 33rd minute.
More dropped points at home mean West Ham
missed the chance to move into second in the
Premier League, while Norwich remain in mid-
table.
Alex Neil's team were in the ascendancy from the
off, with the hosts' dreadful start to the game
typified by captain Mark Noble gifting the ball to
Brady in the ninth minute, allowing the Republic of
Ireland international to run clear and slide his first
goal for the club past Adrian.
That goal visibly boosted the visitors' confidence
and they spurned two decent opportunities to
double their lead before the 20-minute mark.
First, Steven Whittaker saw his shot blocked after
he was left in far too much space down the right,
before Jonny Howson blazed over the crossbar
following another assured passing move.
But the hosts drew level against the run of play
just after the half-hour mark, as Dimitri Payet
crossed from the right and Sakho converted from
eight yards.
Sakho's leveller jolted West Ham into life, and
Manuel Lanzini went close to turning the game on
its head with an excellent curling free-kick that
arced just wide of Ruddy's right-hand post.
The second half began in frantic, end-to-end
fashion, and Ruddy was forced into a fine save 11
minutes after the restart when Sakho powered a
free header straight at him from Victor Moses'
cross.
Payet was next to test the Norwich keeper with a
low left-footed effort, before Adrian denied
Cameron Jerome at the other end following a swift
Norwich breakaway.
Neil introduced Redmond with 20 minutes to go
and the England Under-21 international produced
a moment of real quality to restore Norwich's lead,
as he cut inside from the left and fired past Adrian.
Norwich looked set for their first win at Upton
Park in 26 years, but Kouyate had other ideas as
West Ham snatched a point at the death.