West Ham United vs Southampton. Premier League.
London StadiumAttendance59,962.
Jarrod Bowen scored and starred on his first start as the Hammers clicked for David Moyes
Sunday 1 March 2020 07:03, UK
West Ham moved out of the relegation zone with a 3-1 win over Southampton, their first success in nine games.
In an attacking performance full of pace, power and ruthless finishing, all of the front three scored with Jarrod Bowen (15), who was making his full debut, Sebastien Haller (40) and Michail Antonio (54) proving too hot for a timid Saints to handle.
Michael Obafemi (31) equalised for Southampton in the first half but it was an uncharacteristic flat display on the road from Ralph Hasenhuttl's side.
David Moyes' men move onto 27 points and into 16th place in the Premier League.
The result was gained on a day where there were further protests against the West Ham hierarchy with approximately 5,000 marching before kick-off.
This followed on from supporters releasing black balloons before kick-off at Liverpool on Monday and unveiling banners criticising co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan and Karren Brady.
The Hammers have traditionally had Southampton's measure in the Premier League, winning the last four meetings by an aggregate score of 9-1. And despite losing 14 of their last 20 Premier League games there was a confidence and cohesion to their early attacking play.
The pace and trickery of Antonio and Bowen almost opened the scoring on 13 minutes but Southampton got enough men back in the nick of time to deny Bowen on the counter. They wouldn't get so lucky a moment later. The former Hull City attacker made a clever run from right-to-left and was found with a precise ball by Pablo Fornals. From there, Bowen showed his quality by clipping a fantastic finish into the far corner.
Haller should have doubled the lead three minutes later but headed straight at Alex McCarthy from close range and the visitors took advantage of that reprieve as they struck on the counter-attack.
James Ward-Prowse joined the attack down the right and produced the required quality to pull the ball back for Obafemi, whose controlled finished looped into the top corner.
The undeserved equaliser could have been enough to knock the confidence of the fragile Hammers but with Bowen at the heart of every attack, they kept pushing Saints back. That pressure paid off just before the break.
Antonio's cross from the left was probably his worst of the afternoon but Haller made it into a profitable one as he won an aerial battle with McCarthy and slid home the loose ball from a tight angle.
Southampton came out after the break with greater intensity and had Shane Long timed his finish better at the back post after Aaron Cresswell's misjudgement the game could have been a different story.
However, it was West Ham that grabbed the all-important next goal as the Saints backline crumbled. Haller did well to win the first ball and feed Fornals, who clipped a simple ball over the top of the static visiting defence and Antonio gobbled up the opportunity, firing past McCarthy.
Despite the Hammers throwing away a similar lead against Brighton earlier this month, it was a goal that ended the game as a contest with Moyes' men carrying the greater threat.
An outrageous through ball Rabona by Haller sent Antonio through on goal but he was denied by McCarthy before Angelo Ogbonna also went close after another ball into the box wasn't dealt with by Saints.
The closing stages were strangely comfortable for the home fans, who were watching their side win for just the fourth time this season.
This is another example of the talent that is lurking in the Sky Bet Championship. Some may have doubted whether the former Hull star, who had been part of 23 goal involvements this season, had the required skillset to step up a level but this silenced them good and proper.
Playing off the right, the 23-year-old caused Southampton an abundance of problems with his silky and direct dribbling. His clever movement was on show for the opening goal, where he produced a finish dripping with Premier League quality. He looks hungry to succeed. West Ham may have found their saviour.
Bowen said: "That's the way it went in my dreams last night. I had a chance a few moments before but it got stuck under my feet, maybe it was a bit of excitement. Then the second one came and it was very similar to the chance against Liverpool. I managed to dink it over the goalkeeper and luckily it went in.
"Our assistant manager said the goalkeeper likes to go down quickly, so I got enough on it to dink it over him. I thought it might get ruled out for offside. I joked with my dad last night about what if a goal I scored got ruled out for offside - but luckily the referee said it was all good, so I was buzzing."
West Ham manager David Moyes: "For his [Bowen] full debut he did very well. I hope I know a bit about bringing players through the lower leagues and giving them an opportunity. I don't want him to feel he's the one player that is under pressure to perform for West Ham in a difficult situation. I want him to play his game. He's someone who knows how to score. There will be games that suit him and those that not. We'll use him where we can - today was a game where I thought he could start. There's bits on where he can improve but I'm really pleased how he's started."
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl said: "It was clear what happened. They had a better defence and a better way to defend. It's simple. They defended the box by blocking every shot and defending in a good way. We didn't defend it that way. That was the difference. The goals we conceded, we trained all week to defend their threat. It tells you everything about today. If you defend like that you make it that easy for the opposition. That's why they deserved to win today.
"If anyone thinks we're safe then that's a problem. We have to fight for every point."
Soccer Saturday pundit Paul Merson…
"I'll give David Moyes his due. He went 4-4-2, made things very simple, played two up front in Haller and Antonio - a real handful for Southampton. Fornals and Bowen were on the wings, with the two players in holding midfield, and every one of them were very good.
"It was a big, big football result for West Ham. All of a sudden, they are out of the bottom three and have challenged the clubs around them to go and win a football match, and it's hard to win matches when confidence is low down at the bottom."
West Ham hotfoot it across London next Saturday for a clash at Arsenal while Southampton host Newcastle.
