A first clean sheet in seven games was good enough to earn the Hammers a well-deserved point against Southampton at St Mary's.
And but for a little more luck in front of goal, the Hammers could've been celebrating a third away win from their last four games on the road.Manager David Moyes rang the changes tonight with five players brought into the team including defenders Ryan Fredericks and the on-loan Craig Dawson, making his debut in a claret and blue shirt.
For 30-year-old Dawson it was a particularly good night with the loanee picking up a number of Man of the Match nominations, including those from the KUMBTV team and TV broadcasters Amazon Prime.
And overall it was a night in which defenders had the upper hand, with Dawson effectively nullifying the Saints' biggest threat in Danny Ings while Sebastien Haller was just as ineffective at the other end for West Ham.
That defensive dominance was highlighted by the statistic which confirmed both sides only managed three shots each on target, although the hosts did find the net as early as the sixth minute when Ings, perhaps for the only time on the night, got the better of Dawson only to see his effort ruled out for offside.
Indeed, that was to be as close as Southampton came to scoring with Hammers 'keeper Lukasz Fabianski only forced to make one save of note, a low dive to his right to deny a 30-yard, swerving effort from Theo Walcott.
Meanwhile the Hammers were left rueing the late chance missed by substitute Said Benrahma, who was unable to beat Saints stopper Alex McCarthy from no more than three yards out just six minutes from the end of normal time with the goal at his mercy.
David Moyes rested several first team regulars including Jarrod Bowen and Vladimir Coufal - while Fabian Balbuena was entirely absent from the 20-man match day squad.
However Hammers fans were delighted to see Michail Antonio back on the bench for the game, while a brief cameo at the end of the match suggested the forward was looking just as sharp as he had been prior to his latest injury.
The draw meant both sides extended their winless run to four games each, although the Hammers have also lost just one of their last five - that being the defeat at Chelsea four days before Christmas.
As a result West Ham remained tenth in the Premier League, one place behind Southampton in ninth - a considerable improvement on this day one year ago, when David Moyes was confirmed as the club's latest full-time manager following the dismissal of Manuel Pellegrini.
West Ham Utd: Fabianski, Fredericks, Dawson, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice, Soucek, Yarmolenko (Bowen 72), Lanzini (Benrahma 60), Fornals, Haller (Antonio 77).
Subs not used: Randolph, Coufal, Johnson, Diop, Noble, Snodgrass.
Booked: Yarmolenko (67).
Southampton: McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Stephens, Bednarek, Redmond, Walcott, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Djenepo (Armstrong 78), Ings, Adams (Long 58).
Subs not used: Forster, Valery, Smallbone, Diallo, Vokins, Salisu, Obafemi.
Booked: Bertrand (40), Djenepo (72), Walker-Peters (76).
Referee: Andrew Madley.
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