West Ham cruise with united front
Crisis? What crisis? In the end, the only extra security needed at the London Stadium was in the away dressing room to protect Southampton’s players from their manager, Mark Hughes, as West Ham cruised to an emphatic win that banished the bad memories of their defeat by Burnley three weeks ago.
Three goals in a one-sided first half put the Hammers in complete control and ensured there would be no repeat of those shameful scenes when home supporters invaded the pitch and protested against the club’s owners following their 3-0 defeat by the Clarets.
That result had left West Ham in 17th place in the league table, only two points above Southampton, meaning a fourth straight defeat yesterday would have put the London club in the relegation zone and made their fans even unhappier. Thus the increased security in and around the stadium for this match, with extra police drafted in, barriers erected in front of the directors’ seating, and more stewards than ever.
The array of luminous hi-vis jackets was complemented by Day-Glo boots for some of the stewards on the touchline, presumably to give them more grip in case they needed to chase off pitch invaders.
In the event, it was Southampton’s players who could have done with being more sure-footed, as they allowed West Ham to race into an early twogoal lead that banished all fears of crowd trouble.
When Marko Arnautovic scored his second goal in first-half stoppage time to make it 3-0, the result was beyond doubt and the atmosphere was positively bubbling.
“I thought the fans showed they were with the club and the team,” said relieved West Ham manager David Moyes afterwards. “The players said they wanted to show what they could do. This was a big game for us and I thought we were terrific, especially in that opening part of the game.”
Opposite number Hughes, meanwhile, lamented the “catastrophic” mistakes from his players that allowed West Ham to take a 2-0 lead inside 16 minutes and effectively seal victory by half-time in what was his first Premier League game since taking over from Mauricio Pellegrino last month.
“I’m disappointed to say the least and it was not what we were anticipating,” he said. “We conceded three very poor goals through catastrophic errors, which have been prevalent for some time. That’s why we find ourselves in this situation unfortunately.
“We didn’t give West Ham a game today. It was not what we intended, and not what we needed to do to affect a West Ham side who were able to win the game comfortably because we gave them an easy start.”
Despite all the pre-match concerns, there was no shortage of positivity around the place and both sets of supporters were in good voice before kickoff. West Ham started strongly, but had a setback after only six minutes when Michail Antonio had to go off with an injury. “I haven’t seen the full extent of it since the game but it looks like a bad hamstring injury,” said Moyes.
That did not deter the Hammers from going with gusto at Southampton, who were woeful and could only blame themselves for the opening goals. The first originated from a Southampton corner, which appeared too complicated and ended with Mario Lemina losing possession 25 yards from West Ham’s goal. Cheikhou Kouyate surged forward down the right before firing a low cross, which Joao Mario controlled neatly before shooting high into the net off Alex McCarthy’s gloves.
It was the Portuguese playmaker’s first goal for the club since signing on loan from Inter Milan in January.
The bubbles from West Ham’s pitchside machine had barely subsided when they doubled their lead. Arnau- tovic went close soon after that goal, exchanging passes with Mark Noble but then lifting the ball wide of the target from close range.
But the Austrian made amends moments later when he poked the ball home from close range. This time Pierre-Emile Hjojberg was Southampton’s culprit, losing the ball in a dangerous area inside his own half and allowing the excellent Joao Mario to deliver a tempting cross for Arnautovic. The striker powered his header straight at McCarthy, but had the composure to reach the loose ball first and stroke it calmly over the line.
Hammers fans were in heaven and Arnautovic made a point of celebrating in front of Hughes, who had criticised the player’s supposed lack of ambition when selling him from Stoke to West Ham last summer. Arnautovic made a beeline towards the Southampton manager and crossed his arms across his chest defiantly, while appearing to shout at Hughes, who played down the incident afterwards.
“My relationship with Marko when I worked with him at Stoke was very good, so you’ll have to ask him about that [goal celebration],” he said. “I don’t know if he was pointing at me or was just excited by scoring. He played exceptionally well today, as he did in 4½ years with me at Stoke.”
To emphasise the point, Arnautovic scored his second and West Ham’s third in the fourth minute of stoppage time, when Arthur Masuaku delivered a delicious cross from the left, leaving the Austrian with a far-post volley which he executed superbly.
West Ham’s players left the field at half-time to a well-deserved standing ovation and although Southampton showed more intent after the break, they could not prevent Joe Hart from achieving his first clean sheet since September. England manager Gareth Southgate was watching, along with his opposite number for the Republic of Ireland, Martin O’Neill, who gave a debut to Declan Rice last week. The young defender was born in England but has Irish grandparents, and is still eligible for both countries.
Moyes was unable to shed much light on the situation, saying: “My understanding is he wants to play for Ireland, but he played very well today. Centre-half is the hardest position for a young player in the Premier League, but I thought he gave us some breathing space.”
West Ham also have breathing space in the table now with this result moving them up to 14th, five points clear of Southampton, whose situation looks increasingly desperate.
More importantly, the victory also went some way towards repairing West Ham’s relationship with their supporters and their reputation as a club.