Hammers left to rue Antonio’s red

THE first was for something out of the wrestling arena, as he threw Jack Stephens to the ground. The second was a lazy sliding tackle on Moussa Djenepo.

With that, Michail Antonio was shown his second yellow card and West Ham will be without their main source of goals for Manchester United’s visit next weekend.

‘He was stupid to lunge in,’ said his manager, David Moyes. ‘He’s got himself sent off.’

Southampton centre backs Stephens and Mohammed Salisu hardly gave the Premier League’s top scorer an inch as West Ham’s forwards struggled to create.

After this stalemate, Southampton remain winless this season and West

Ham remain unbeaten. The hosts clearly felt they deserved more.

Armando Broja, the Albanian forward on loan from Chelsea who had his 20th birthday on Friday, was introduced in the 74th minute. In the 81st, he hit the post. In the 90th, his header was cleared off the line by Declan Rice. ‘ We had the chances,’ said Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl, but still the wait for a win goes on.

West Ham can look on the bright side. They’ve managed two league wins and two draws and next up is a trip to Croatia for their first proper taste of European football since 2006. They face Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday, but if they are to get their Europa League campaign off to a smart start, they’ll need to play better than they did here.

Maybe the energy-sapping international break played a part in the performance, as Moyes said: ‘Our forwards didn’t connect. It looked like they’d all been away.’

There was only one attempt on goal in the opening 20 minutes — a low drive from Adam Armstrong. Moyes was looking frustrated. As half-time approached, there had not been a single goal in the six Premier League 3pm kick-offs. If Southampton or West Ham were to end that drought, an influx of energy was needed.

Moyes must have given his men a grilling at the break, as they emerged with much more intent and Antonio tested Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy.

Nikola Vlasic was introduced for his West Ham debut and looked lively. He was among those involved in a scramble which resulted in Jarrod Bowen forcing McCarthy to tip over.

After 80 minutes Broja sprinted forward and struck a shot, only to see it bounce back off the post.

As five minutes of stoppage time was announced, Southampton swung in a corner. Broja rose highest and the ball was flying into the far corner, but Rice was stationed at the back post to clear.

Then Antonio flew into Djenepo and West Ham finished the game with 10 men.