A Marko Arnautovic brace helped West Ham cruise past Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Southampton at the London Stadium in a fairly irrelevant game in terms of Premier League standings.
It didn’t take long for West Ham to open the scoring as their first goal came within the first 15 minutes. Yan Valery, who has been excellent since becoming a regular starter in the first team, was the culprit for this one as his sloppy pass across the back four was easily intercepted by Mark Noble. The Englishman then played an inch-perfect pass on to the running Arnautovic who calmly slotted the ball past Fraser Forster.
West Ham were completely dominant in the first half as they managed to retain 62% of the possession and restricted the Saints to no attempts on goal, there was only one goal in it but West Ham were comfortable.
The Hammers were under severe pressure with the introduction of Nathan Redmond in the second half though and it looked inevitable that Southampton were going to score. However, completely against the run of play Arthur Masuaku burst down the left-hand side of the Southampton penalty area and delivered a relatively tame ball which should have been easy for Forster to catch. However, his punch bounced off of Arnautovic’s shoulder and went straight in the air for him just to nod in to the Saints goal for his ninth goal of the season.
The wind had evidently been knocked clean out of Southampton’s sails as only two minutes later came West Ham’s third and final goal of the afternoon. Ryan Fredericks managed to get his first Premier League goal under his belt to seal all three points.
He darted forward and played a neat little one-two with Jack Wilshire which opened up space for the full-back. While the angle was tight and there was still a lot to do, one look was enough to see the space and he slotted the ball low down to Forster’s right-hand side – evident joy on the face of the 25-year-old. The Irons could easily have had another one or two goals however they just didn’t punish Southampton fully, but the damage was already done and they walked away with a pretty comfortable three points.
Defensive upheaval
Southampton have been unfortunate in their last few games as injuries have plagued their defensive line-up. This has led to the re-introduction of Jack Stephens into the starting line-up, a player who is notorious for having a solid game then doing something utterly ridiculous which would lead to the other team scoring.
Ignoring this, Ralph was used to playing with three centre-half’s and two wing-backs but has had to play four at the back in recent times – a system the players are not used to perhaps. Once the second goal went in the whole defence just looked like their heads dropped and it could have easily finished four or five if West Ham players were more clinical.
Key players
Off of the back of the previous point, it could have been Hasenhuttl’s choice as he left out key players who were fit enough to play. Jannik Vestergaard, Maya Yoshida and Redmond being the three stand out players – three players who have been instrumental in keeping the Saints in the Premier League this campaign. This was proven when Redmond came on in the second half as suddenly the Saints looked threatening when going forward but it was not enough.
Fraser Forster was reintroduced into the squad on Saturday after not being available since 2017. The shot-stopper is an advocate for Mental Health issues in professional athletes and was open about his depression and that he needed time away from first-team football in order to be happy within himself. Seeing him now back in first team football is a real boost for the team and hopefully he can be a role model for any other professional struggling with mental health or even anyone playing sport in general, that it is okay not to be okay and there is plenty of support and things do get better.
Deadly Hammers
The strength of a side can normally be estimated by their character when they are under pressure, perfectly summed up by West Ham on Saturday. In thee second half the Saints looked like they should have scored but West Ham’s resilience and dogged defending was enough to keep them out, and luck went their way with Arnautovic’s second goal. Pellegrini’s men currently sit 11th after their win this weekend on 49 points. With some smart summer transfer business, in and out, it is definitely possible that they can be pushing for the top seven and hunting for the Europa League spot next season.
The quality in their side is evident, with players like Mikhail Antonio, Mark Noble and Arnautovic all proving their ability this year. If players like Samir Nasri can keep themselves fit for next season it could well be a good season for West Ham as being the first team to beat Tottenham Hotspur at their new stadium proves how good they can be on their day.
