King hat-trick gives Bournemouth vital win over West Ham

March 11 (Reuters) - Joshua King scored a hat-trick and missed a penalty as Bournemouth edged a five-goal thriller against West Ham United to ease six points away from relegation danger on Saturday.

(Reuters)

Bournemouth missed two penalties in the first half. King screwed wide in the ninth minute and West Ham went ahead seconds later when Michail Antonio turned smartly and shot past Bournemouth keeper Artur Boruc.

The hosts deservedly levelled through King in the 31st minute before Bournemouth were awarded another penalty when Marc Pugh went down in the area, only for Benik Afobe to have his kick saved by Darren Randolph.

King put Bournemouth ahead from Afobe's knockdown early in the second half but Ayew struck eight minutes from time.

In a thrilling finale King lashed Bournemouth's winner in the 90th minute after Randolph had saved from Jack Wilshere.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)