West Ham frustrated after 1-1 draw with Stoke in EPL

LONDON (AP) — West Ham continued its unstable start to life at the Olympic Stadium as Stoke came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw in the English Premier League on Saturday.

Crowd trouble has marred the club's summer move to the 2012 Olympic venue, but it was on-field problems that left home fans frustrated this time.

Extra security measures contained any drama off the field, however the visitor's resilience ensured it wasn't a perfect afternoon for West Ham.

Slaven Bilic's side looked to be on its way to victory when Michail Antonio's header was deflected into his own net by Stoke's Glenn Whelan in the 65th.

But a goalkeeping error from Adrian allowed Stoke back into the game 10 minutes later.

The West Ham stopper came needlessly charging off his line, allowing Jonathan Walters to center for Bojan Krkic to volley into an empty net.

A switch to a 3-4-3 formation has caused an upturn in West Ham's results and defensive performances, but also a lack of potency in attack - it's failed to score more than once in its last six Premier League fixtures.

"It wasn't a particularly nice game of football, neither team deserved to lose or win," Bilic said

"Today we saw it (the formation) wasn't enough, that's why we put Antonio and (Ashley) Fletcher up front and it gave us an advantage."

Stoke could be forgiven for its limited production in attack, with chief creators Marko Arnautovic and Xherdan Shaqiri absent through suspension and injury.

Yet manager Mark Hughes believed his side blew it.

"Maybe we feel we merited the full three points," he said. "I thought we were very much in control in terms of chances created."

Bilic pushed Antonio into a more advanced position as he introduced Edimilson Fernandes, and Fletcher and was rewarded when his aerial prowess forced the opener.

Hughes responded by sending on Peter Crouch and Krkic, and it took the latter just four minutes to make an impact.

Both sides climbed one position in the standings, West Ham to 16th and Stoke to 11th after extending its unbeaten run to six league games. Both sides could drop lower depending on Sunday's results.