Star Metro - West Ham blanks Bournemouth in Premier League US series

Spot-on set up passes by Senegalese left back El Hadji Malick Diouf, signed only on July 15, led to both West Ham goals in the finale of their US pre-season tour at Atlanta.

"Both goals are down to him, the quality that he's got, you can see that," Bowen said of Diouf. "He has only been here a few weeks but you would think he has been here years.

"He's humble. He's a brilliant guy for the group and he's obviously a brilliant footballer as well. We're very excited to see what he can continue to do here."

Diouf's centering ball found England's Bowen in the box, but he was forced to slide a pass left to German teammate Fullkrug, who fired in a shot from point-blank range in the 24th minute.

Bowen found the net in the 67th minute, taking a Diouf pass while making a run into the middle of the box then flicking a right-footed shot into the far left side of the goal.

Bournemouth had plenty of chances in the first 15 minutes but found the woodwork to squander early opportunities.

"What I liked was the character about the group. We didn't have the best start we wanted but we stuck in there. We were together. We were a team," Bowen said.

"That was one of the good things to see, the togetherness and the spirit when things aren't going as well at the start. You stick together, you motivate each other, you come through and you win the game."

West Ham lost 2-1 to Manchester United to open the round-robin friendly tournament but bounced back to defeat Everton 2-1.

"The positives are that we've had three really good, competitive games against Premier League opposition," Bowen said. "The Man United game, I thought we started slowly but put it a good positive performance and were unlucky to lose on the day."

S.Lapointe--SMC