Anderson double gives Hammers win
LONDON: A superb brace by Felipe Anderson gave West Ham United a 21 comeback win at Southampton in a pulsating Premier League match yesterday.
The result lifted West Ham to ninth in the table on 27 points from 19 games while Southampton stayed 16th on 15 points, three above the relegation zone after suffering its first home defeat in five matches.
The game sprang to life when Southampton forward Nathan Redmond bundled the ball home with his shoulder in the 50th minute after visiting keeper Lukazs Fabianski parried his initial shot and Oriol Romeu’s rebound.
In the absence of firstchoice strikers Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez, West Ham lacked cutting edge until Brazilian midfielder Anderson turned the match on its head.
Anderson equalised in the 53rd minute with a stinging first time shot from 20m and completed West Ham’s comeback in the 57th when he buried the ball into the top right corner from 13m to cap a lightning break by the visitors.
Fabianski had kept out a longrange effort by forward Stuart Armstrong at the other end and marshalled his defence superbly in the closing stages as the Saints threw men forward in search of an equaliser.
Chelsea star Eden Hazard has admitted he could wait until the end of the season before making a decision on his longterm future.
Hazard passed 100 goals for Chelsea with his brace in the Blues’ 21 Premier League win at Watford on Boxing Day.
The 27yearold then revealed immediately he wants to become a Chelsea ‘‘legend’’, leaving fans excited about the prospect of the Blues holding on to the Belgium star for years to come.
Hazard’s current Chelsea deal expires in 2020 and he has been consistently linked with a move to Real Madrid, and the inform Blues star insisted he is in no rush to resolve his longterm plans.
Asked if his desire to go down in Chelsea history means he could stay at Stamford Bridge for the long haul, Hazard replied: ‘‘To be fair I’m just focused on the pitch, and we’ll see at the end of the season.’’ —