West Ham failed to move back into the top five after a free-flowing New Year’s Day encounter with West Brom.

The home side drew first blood. Left back Aaron Creswell was found by Morgan Amalfitano with a decisive ball inside the West Brom defender, who then cut the ball back for the onrushing Diafra Sakho to nod home.

Another sweeping move a couple of minutes later saw Stewart Downing bearing down on Ben Foster who pushed the resulting shot away.

While West Ham continued to dominate possession, Albion remained a constant threat. In the 21st minute Chris Baird was found on the edge of the area but his shot was parried away by home keeper Adrian.

It was the 42nd minute when West Brom equalised when Stephane Sessegnon had time to set himself and lay the ball on a plate for Saido Berahino to slot home.

The Baggies came out after the interval like a team keen to impress new manager Tony Pulis — who was watching from the stands. They subsequently dominated possession, helped by the home side repeatedly giving the ball away. Adrian was in action within three minutes of the restart, once again having to scramble the ball away.

It was West Ham though who nearly retook the lead after 58 minutes when Creswell saw his free kick bounce back off the post with the keeper beaten.

The home side were steadily regaining their control with Alex Song, Cheikhou Kouyate and Downing dominating the midfield.

Song broke forward on a marauding run to find Carl Jenkinson, whose cut back just went behind Sakho allowing Foster to clear the ball. Sakho got injured in the process, being replaced by Enner Valencia in the 72nd minute.

The game marked another two points forfeited by West Ham in what has proved a poor Christmas period for the East End club. Pulis though will take heart from his team’s performance, which showed no shortage of endeavour or skill — with a bit more luck they could have nicked this game.