LONDON, CMC—Jamaica striker Michail Antonio led players with Caribbean ties who scored in English football on Saturday with a late strike, which enabled West Ham United to earn a 2-2 draw against Premier League giants Liverpool.
Antonio scored a header inside the final 15 minutes for his seventh goal this season. He followed up a first-half strike from Jarrod Bowen on his 200th appearance for the Hammers to all but dent the hopes of Liverpool from strongly contending for the EPL title at London Stadium.
Bowen equaled Paolo Di Canio’s EPL record for most goals in a single season for the Hammers when he headed in his 16th of the campaign—and 20th in all competitions—two minutes before the interval.
West Ham made a set-piece count when Bowen rose highest to meet a cross from Mohammed Kudus, and Liverpool showed little evidence that their Merseyside derby loss against Everton in midweek had done much to spur them on in the title chase.
Liverpool emerged from the break a different team, and though a messy Alphonse Areola own-goal gave them the lead after Andy Robertson leveled terms, Antonio found the target in the 77th minute to secure a share of the spoils.
The result meant that the Hammers now have an outside chance of securing European qualification, in eighth place in the 20-team table on 49 points with three matches to play, with a short trip to cross-town rivals Chelsea in store next.
Liverpool sits third in the table at 75 points, two points behind leaders Arsenal, with three matches remaining.
The Gunners, as Arsenal is known, face Tottenham on Sunday. Manchester City is second, on 76 points, but has two matches in hand.
Elsewhere, Jamaica striker Omari Hutchinson put Ipswich in the lead twice. Still, Hull City equalized each time and earned a hard-fought 3-3 draw. In contrast, Charlton Athletic striker Tyrese Campbell, eligible to play for Jamaica, and Watford striker Ryan Andrews, eligible to play for Barbados, also found the back of the nets.
Hutchinson, 20, scored in each half after George Hirst netted the opener and looked to have secured total points for the Tractor Boys, as Ipswich is known, in their chase for automatic promotion to the Premier League. Still, Ozan Tufan, Liam Delap, and Noah Ohio all found equalizers to earn the hosts a share of the spoils at MKM Stadium.
Hutchinson scored his first goal in the third minute of first-half stoppage time to give his side a 2-1 lead at halftime. He picked up possession on the right flank before cutting in on his left and firing a beauty of a shot into the top corner.
Hutchinson gave Ipswich a 3-2 lead in the 67th minute when the Hull defense failed to learn their lesson from his first goal and allowed him to pick up the second ball from a corner, switch on to his left foot, and whip a second curling, dipping strike past Ryan Allsop.
Ipswich is third in the 24-team table on 90 points, four points behind leaders Leicester with two matches remaining, and level on points with an inferior goal defense with Leeds, who have one match left, while Hull is seventh on 70.
Campbell, 24, enabled Stoke City to secure their status in the League Championship with a 1-0 win against hosts Southampton, and Andrews, 19, came off the bench to end the long wait for a home win for Watford when they beat Sunderland 1-0 in the same league.
As Stoke is known, the Potters displayed endeavor and commitment to more than match their promotion-chasing hosts. They created several opportunities on either side of Tyrese Campbell’s sublime finish, earning them all three points at St Mary’s Park.
Stoke went in front with 10 minutes left before halftime when Campbell beat Taylor Harwood-Bellis and drilled the ball home for his second league goal.
With the win, the Potters are now 18th in the 24-team table on 53 points, and a run of one defeat from seven matches has enabled them to climb away from the bottom three at the business end of the season.
Andrews, whose father Wayne was also a striker for Watford, allowed Tom Cleverley to celebrate his appointment as permanent team manager with the club’s first home win since November 28. This ended a run of 12 winless matches at Vicarage Road.
A dull end-of-season affair between two mid-table sides was settled by a moment of quality midway through the second half when Ismaël Koné played a perfect pass behind the Sunderland defense, and Andrews coolly slotted past keeper Anthony Patterson.
The win was Watford’s second in nine matches under Cleverley, who was placed in interim charge after Valerien Ismael was sacked in March. Five of those matches were drawn.
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