Southampton make West Ham rue missed chances

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The Saints are the best team West Ham have faced this season, exposing the weaknesses of Nuno Espirito Santo’s team.

Static defending and sleep walking until they go behind have been recurrent themes, but this time West Ham were up against a side that made them pay. 

That said, the Hammers had more than enough chances to win the game, but when Jarrod Bowen isn’t firing, they often come up short.

Southampton wasted no time in going ahead, as Leo Scienza cut in from the left. A failed interception by Divine Mukasa saw the ball returned to Scienza, whose shot rebounded off home keeper, Mads Hermansen, for Kuryu Matsuki to slam home inside two minutes.

Southampton were quickly two goals up, with Hermansen flapping at a cross from Casper Jander. The ball fell to James Bree on the edge of the area, who spectacularly fired home.

Then followed a period of sustained home pressure resulting in one goal. Kyle Walker-Peters put Mohamadou Kante in, but his shot was deflected for a corner. 

Walker-Peters then picked up the ball, sidestepped one challenge and fired home from the edge of the area.

Manor Solomon set up Bowen but his shot was blocked by Southampton keeper Daniel Peretz. 

The Saints then scored a third, as West Ham defenders seemed to take turns at setting things up for the opposition. 

First, Max Kilman blocked, then Konstantinos Mavropanos, before, finally, a Hermansen block rebounded to Lewis Dobbin, who fired home.

Kante then saw his shot come back off the keeper, only for Taty Castellanos to fire wide. 

West Ham started the second half on the attack, with Kante putting an Ollie Scarles cross over Mavropanos, who then had a shot pushed out by the keeper. Castellanos failed to get onto the rebound.

Southampton’s Finn Azaz then put Dobbin through but his shot hit the post.

For West Ham, Kilman then caught the ball on the half volley, 20 yards out, but his shot came down off the bar, hitting the keeper and bouncing away to the dismay of the home fans.

The game was three minutes into added time, when Tomas Soucek struck from the edge of the penalty area, but his goal was to prove a mere consolation. 

Peretz pulled off one final save to secure the three points for Southampton.

West Ham head coach Nuno Espirito Santo felt his team never recovered from the poor start. “There was not enough determination,” said Espirito Santo.

Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert was pleased at how his team reacted coming to one of the bigger teams in the Championship. 

“It is not easy to come here and get a result. We have been clinical today in converting our chances into goals,” said Eckert, who explained the logic of having a smaller squad. 

He felt competition for places is good, with a strong academy underneath. A great physical and medical department is important, which he feels Southampton have.