Premier LeagueSouthampton 0-1 West Ham United
Thursday, 26th December 2024
by Staff Writer
It was far from pretty, but three priceless points at St Mary's lifted West Ham to within one point of the top half of the Premier League table.
Jarrod Bowen's second half strike - his 100th career league goal - was enough to secure all three points for Julen Lopetegui's side, who rarely managed to leave second gear on a cold, foggy day on the south coast.Yet that was sufficient to guarantee victory against the league's worst team, who failed to make the most of having installed a new manager last week in Ivan Juric.
The Saints went into the game with just one win from their opening 17 matches, which now reads one from 18. Yet West Ham can probably count themselves somewhat fortuitous to leave Hampshire with the win having been second best for long periods of the game.
Fortunately for Lopetegui, his team and the travelling fans, who gave good voice despite having been forced to make the Boxing Day journey to Southampton, Juric's charges were profligate when chances were presented to them - and they certainly had their fair share during the 107 minutes of game play.
The first half - which was extended by an extra ten minutes following a worrying head injury to Lukasz Fabianski - saw the hosts create a number of openings, all of which they failed to profit from. The main culprit being striker Paul Onuachu, who remains without a goal to his name this season despite being presented with two or three gilt-edged opportunities during the game.
However he was far from the only guilty party, with the two sides managing just seven shots on target between them, thus offering some indication why both have struggled to gain any kind of positive consistency during the opening half of the 2024/25 campaign.
West Ham's best chance of the first half fell to Carlos Soler, who was unable to keep his shot under the crossbar when presented with a great chance to open the scoring inside the opening 10 minutes from close range.
Yet it was West Ham's goalkeeper who was forced to work the hardest ahead of the half time interval, with Fabianski making several important stops - including one fantastic effort to steer a header away from goal when the odds were against him.
Sadly for the veteran Pole, who will celebrate his 40th birthday next April, Lopetegui was forced to recall second choice stopper Alphonse Areola after Fabianski was forced to retire having been stretchered off the field following an aerial collision with Nathan Wood - a challenge which earned the forward his team's only caution of the day.
That enforced change came shortly after Max Kilman had already been forced to retire with what looked like a dislocated shoulder, or possible collar bone injury.
With neither side managing to break the deadlock before the half time interval, it was Southampton who came out of the blocks quicker in the second period - although it was a similar story for the Premier League's bottom side as they failed to seriously threaten Areola thereafter.
And while West Ham were not exactly beating down Aaron Ramsdale's door, the goal that won the game finally arrived on the hour mark. A deep cross to Tomas Soucek was nodded back across goal towards Niclas Fullkrug and the German international's pinpoint header picked out Bowen, who was on hand to get to the ball first and steer it across the line.
And while he will no doubt be delighted with the win, which extends West Ham's unbeaten run in the Premier League to four matches, Head Coach Lopetegui was dealt further blows following cautions for Tomas Soucek and Guido Rodriguez, which rule both out of next weekend's home test against league leaders Liverpool.
It could've been even worse for the Argentinian, who to his great surprise was initially issued with a red card before the VAR team advised rookie ref Lewis Smith to review the incident on his pitchside monitor which resulted in the dismissal being downgraded to a yellow - harsh as that was, with TV replays confirmed Rodriguez had clearly won the ball before coming into contact with Southampton's Kyle Walker-Peters.
The three points lifted West Ham above Manchester United into 13th spot, level on points with Tottenham and Brentford who currently boast a superior goal difference. Yet crucially, it reduced the deficit to the European spots (seventh place) to just five points.
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Lukasz FabianskiMade two or three vitally important saves before being hurt in a nasty collision with Nathan Wood, for which the perpetrator only received a yellow card while Fan was stretchered off.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Mr Versatile, who was seen popping up on the left wing and in central midfield at times brought plenty of energy to the team's forward thrusts. Defensively the highlight was one fantastic dispossessing tackle on Kyle Walker-Peters, the player West Ham tried to sign before turning to The Spider.
Emerson Palmieri
Nowhere near as marauding as his fellow full-back, but a competent defensive display nonetheless.
Max Kilman
Sustained what appeared to be a collar bone/shoulder injury which he was unable to shake off. A major doubt for this weekend's visit of Liverpool as a result.
Konstantinos Mavropanos
A good performance compared to recent outings. Although his distribution continues to be questionable, at least there were no glaring errors which led to an opposition goal this week.
Guido Rodriguez
Four months after arriving in England on a free transfer it's still difficult to ascertain exactly what he brings to the party. The red card for an innocuous tackle was a travesty, though - thankfully VAR showed rookie referee Smith the errors of his ways.
Tomas Soucek
As is often the case he made little impression in the centre of the park but earned his wages in and around the two penalty boxes. A defensive behemoth in West Ham's, while providing a helping hand in the winning goal at the other end.
Carlos Soler
Industrious and energetic, but really should've buried that chance early doors. Hampered by injury toward the end of the first half, which led to his replacement at the break.
Niclas Fullkrug
Still seems way off the pace of Premier League football and is yet to gel with his team mates - unsurprisingly, given he's barely played with them. Yet he was in the right place at the right time when it mattered to provide the assist which led to Bowen's winning goal.
Mohammed Kudus
Quite possible his least effective game in a West Ham shirt. Lost count at six when recalling the number of times he conceded possession, twice criminally around the cusp of West Ham's penalty box which a better team that Soton would've capitalised on. Anonymous on the left and little better when moved inside following a second half reshuffle.
Jarrod Bowen
Once again the skipper came up trumps by providing the goal that secured all three points. Not his most productive afternoon, but he did his job.
Substitutes
Jean-Clair Todibo(Kilman, 19) While he still needs to work on his positioning, this was a solid enough performance. Although quite frankly his afternoon was helped considerably by being up against the Premier League's most ineffective striker.
Alphonse Areola
(Fabianski, 36) Rarely stretched by a wilting, powder puff Saints attack after replacing the stricken Fabianski late on in the first half. Likely to be set for an extended run in the team as a result of the injury to his fellow stopper.
Edson Alvarez
(Soler, 46) Having replaced the injured Soler, the Mexican navigated an entire half without being cautioned. Fancy that...
Crysencio Summerville
(Fullkrug, 67) On for the BFG, he replaced Mo Kudus on the left wing but proved to be equally ineffective. The short cameos he's being afforded by Lopetegui presently give him little opportunity to show what he's capable of.
Aaron Cresswell
(Rodriguez, 23) The old warhorse came on for the cautioned Argentine with a quarter of the game to go in order to shore up the rearguard and ensure a Southampton stalemate.
Vladimir Coufal
(Emerson 88) A rare sixth sub, granted as a result of the concussion injury to Fabianski, saw the experienced Coufi come on for the final few minutes to aid the defence.
Andy Irving
Did not play.
Luis Guilherme
Did not play.
Danny Ings
Did not play.
Match Facts
West Ham United: Lukasz Fabianski, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Emerson Palmieri, Max Kilman, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Guido Rodriguez, Tomas Soucek, Carlos Soler, Niclas Fullkrug, Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen.Goals: Jarrod Bowen 59 .
Booked: Guido Rodriguez 0 Tomas Soucek 0 .
Sent Off: None sent off. .
Southampton: Ramsdale, Sugawara (Bree 61), Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Wood, Walker-Peters (Manning 86), Downes (Aribo 61), Ugochukwu (Lallana 87), Fernandes (Dibling 73), Armstrong (Sulemana 73), Onuachu.
Subs not used: McCarthy, Fraser, Archer.
Goals: .
Booked: Wood.
Sent off: None.
Referee: Lewis Smith.
Attendance: 31,059.
Man of the Match: Aaron Wan-Bissaka.