West Ham 0-0 Everton: Uninspired London Stadium stalemate keeps pressure on under fire Julen Lopetegui and Sean Dyche

 Julen Lopetegui will fly home to Spain to visit his 94-year-old father during the international break.

The West Ham head coach had said before kick-off that it would be a short trip before coming back to east London to prepare for his side’s game with Newcastle. As boos from the home supporters engulfed the London Stadium at the full-time whistle following a drab and demoralising 0-0 draw with Everton, it is not certain he will have a job to return to.

West Ham owner David Sullivan has a reputation for giving his managers time, but this was as uninspiring as it gets.

The positives are that this was just a second clean sheet in 29 Premier League games and the hosts were the better team in the second half. But too often, attacks broke down in the final third and the lack of quality was startling.

‘I was not happy with the first half but I thought we deserved to win with the chances we had in the second,’ Lopetegui said.

West Ham came inches away from taking the lead when Crysencio Summerville hit the post

The uninspiring performance left West Ham fans frustrated and Lopetegui’s future in doubt

‘It’s normal the fans are not happy with two dropped points. The positive thing is that we were able to have a clean sheet and enough chances to score and to win the match. Maybe one of the best players out there was Pickford. It was not enough because we didn’t score. The only frustration that I have after not winning the match is that I think in the first half, we lost 45 minutes.

‘We have to grow up as a team, to grow as a group and to have more personality. I think if we do that we are going to improve.’

Everton had edged what was a terrible first half but faded badly in the second. Sean Dyche insisted it was a ‘good point’ but given his side has Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City all to face in December, it may feel like two points dropped.

In truth, neither team deserved more than the solitary point they came away with but Everton had Jordan Pickford to thank for a superb stoppage-time save.

‘We come away slightly wondering “is that one we could have won” but equally Jordan makes a fine save to make sure we keep that clean sheet,’ Dyche said.

‘We couldn’t find that bit of edge in the attacking third and that bit of devil that is sometimes the difference and that bit of quality of course.’

For the second week in a row, it took West Ham until after the 35th minute to have a shot. Their first on target did not come until the 44th minute and it was a comfortable stop for Pickford.

Everton had looked the brighter of the two teams up until the 25th minute but created little in the way of clear-cut chances. Crysencio Summerville’s important block from Abdoulaye Doucoure was about the closest they came to breaking the deadlock.

Sean Dyche’s side are 16th in the Premier League but have a daunting December fixture list

Jordan Pickford made a superb save from a deflected Danny Ings effort in added time

The football on show from both teams had been dire, so it was not a surprise to hear a smattering of boos from the home fans as the half-time whistle blew. The only hope was that surely things could not get any worse after the break.

There was at least an improvement from both teams. Guido Rodriguez forced Pickford into a fine save from a long-range effort before Lukasz Fabianski made an equally good stop to tip Jesper Lindstrom’s header over the crossbar.

West Ham came within inches of taking the lead in the 73rd minute as Summerville sent an effort against the post. Pickford, who was the best player on the pitch, then made a superb save from a deflected Danny Ings strike in added time.