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WEST HAM boss Sam Allardyce was left frustrated once again as his team failed to see out the result for the fourth time in the last five games.
On this occasion, having led from the seventh minute courtesy of a brilliant free-kick from Aaron Creswell, the home side threw the game away in the 95th minute, letting in Marko Arnautovic to finish smartly.
Allardyce lamented the failure of his team to play out the game, “letting a bit of panic creep in.
“We didn’t play as well as we know we can, yet we were 30 seconds away from winning the game,” said Allardyce, who made much of the fact his team should now be on 50 points having let seven points go in games against Manchester United (1-1), Tottenham (2-2), Leicester (1-2) and now Stoke all slip in the last couple of minutes of the game.
“We are now on 43 points, wondering when we are going to see out a game of football,” said Allardyce.
“We are making it incredibly difficult for ourselves when we should be coasting — there is an anxiety around the place.”
He emphasised that the failings were a matter of collective responsibility, with letting go of the ball in the closing minutes of the game putting extra pressure on the back four.
“Our results recently haven’t matched our performances. We’ve got to calm ourselves and make sure the nerve ends don’t jangle again when we are in this position.”
The game had been a pretty lacklustre affair played out in the spring sunshine. The two illuminating moments were the goals, with Cresswell stepping up to strike home a free-kick from 25 yards into the top right-hand corner.
Then came Arnautovic, who represented Stoke’s most potent threat all game.
A deft flick from Stephen Ireland put Arnautovic clear to instantly control and slide home past home stopper Adrian.
Stoke had been unlucky earlier with two efforts from Arnautovic ruled out for offside, while substitute Mame Biram Diouf saw his effort rebound off the post.
Stoke manager Mark Hughes was relieved to get the last-minute equaliser, crediting his team for sticking at it.
