Steve Cook dishes up tasty winner for Cherries at West Ham

The centre-half headed in Ryan Fraser’s free-kick to earn Eddie Howe’s men all three points at London stadium.

His winner came after striker Callum Wilson’s brilliant solo effort had cancelled out a first-half penalty scored by Hammers’ frontman Marko Arnautovic.

Victory meant Cherries had taken maximum points from their opening two fixtures and – dating back to last season – had won four consecutive top-flight contests for the first time in their history.

Cherries boss Howe named an unchanged squad from the group which beat Cardiff 2-0 in their Premier League opener a week previously.

That meant £25million record signing Jefferson Lerma was deemed not yet ready to feature for the visitors. Spanish full-back Diego Rico served the second of a three-match ban.

Club skipper Simon Francis once again had to settle for a spot on the bench, meaning Andrew Surman donned the captain’s armband.

Hammers’ boss Manuel Pellegrini made three alterations from the team which were humbled 4-0 at Liverpool in their first league fixture of the campaign.

Pablo Zabaleta, Robert Snodgrass and Chicharito all returned. The latter scored against Cherries in the sides’ 1-1 draw at the same venue last season.

Ryan Fredericks, Declan Rice and Michail Antonio were left out of the hosts’ squad altogether. Former Cherries loanee Jack Wilshere made his home debut.

Cherries started the contest on the front foot. Joshua King’s 20-yard piledriver cannoned off defender Angelo Ogbonna and fell away to safety.

In a relatively quiet opening 20 minutes, the visitors received the first caution.

Having already been warned by referee Stuart Attwell after an earlier mistimed challenge, Dan Gosling was shown yellow after bringing down former team-mate Wilshere in midfield.

The Irons then looked to put pressure on Howe’s men. Chicharito’s neat turn allowed him to take aim on the edge of the box but the strike deflected off Cook away to safety.

Calls for a West Ham penalty were then denied by referee Attwell after summer signing Felipe Anderson went to ground under a challenge from Adam Smith.

A neat one-two between Chicharito and Arnautovic let the Mexican frontman fashion the first shot on goal for the hosts. He forced Asmir Begovic into making a sharp save at his near post.

But it was Cherries who really should have taken the lead on 27 minutes when David Brooks drifted in off the flank to thread through for Callum Wilson.

The frontman failed to beat Lukasz Fabianski, who somehow clung on at full stretch diving to his right.

And Cherries were made to pay six minutes later as West Ham took the lead from the penalty spot.

Defender Nathan Ake was judged to have brought down Chicharito in the box after referee Attwell had consulted with his assistant.

Up stepped Arnautovic to confidently beat Begovic, who had guessed the right way.

Brooks had a golden opportunity to level the scoring for the visitors before half-time.

He beat the offside trap to run on to Surman’s chip over the top but failed to place a header on target when completely unmarked.

Just 35 seconds after the restart, Cherries had almost restored parity.

Surman’s dangerous pass found Brooks, who sharply spun away from two defenders and saw his low drive well saved by Polish stopper Fabianski.

At the other end, Fraser blocked on the line after the ball had cannoned off the head of his own team-mate in Ake, before Cherries’ appeals for a penalty fell on deaf ears moments later.

The Scotland winger burst into the box and went to ground under the challenge of Irons’ skipper Mark Noble, who had already been booked, but referee Attwell waved play on.

But Cherries’ leveller came on the hour mark with a sublime piece of individual skill from Wilson.

He picked up Cook’s ball forward and showed a clean pair of heels to challenges from Fabian Balbuena, Pablo Zabaleta and Ogbonna before tucking the ball into the net past Fabianski.

The strike was the former Coventry ace’s fifth goal in five games against the Hammers.

And six minutes later, Cherries were in front.

After Ogbonna had fouled Brooks on the edge of the box, Fraser’s free-kick found the head of Cook, who powered in his first league goal since New Year’s Day to make it 2-1.

With the hosts then forced to commit men forward, Cherries then showed their prowess on the counter. Adam Smith blazed over after racing on to a cutback from King.

The Dorset club had to absorb pressure throughout the closing minutes.

Arnautovic failed to keep an attempt down after striking off balance and Wilshere’s drive was gathered by Begovic.

Cherries (4-4-1-1): Begovic; Smith, S Cook, Ake, Daniels; Brooks (Francis, 78), Gosling, Surman, Fraser; King (L Cook, 90); Wilson.

Unused subs: Mings, Ibe, Mousset, Defoe, Boruc (g/k).

Booked: Gosling, King.

Hammers (4-4-2): Fabianski; Zabaleta, Ogbonna, Balbuena, Masuaku; Snodgrass (Perez, 77), Noble (Sanchez, 77), Wilshere, Anderson; Arnautovic, Chicharito (Yarmolenko, 67).

Unused subs: Diop, Cresswell, Obiang.

Booked: Noble, Anderson, Ogbonna, Wilshere, Yarmolenko.

Referee: Stuart Attwell.

Attendance: 56,888.