O’Neill not mad as Hatters grab point
Now all that was required was a goal to set the place alight.
And that duly arrived in the 15th minute when Pablo Fornals’ put Bowen through.
A minute earlier he had been denied his first Premier League goal by a last-gasp tackle.
This time there was no stopping him as he produced a deft chip over Saints keeper Alex McCarthy.
With the worst home record in the top flight and having binned a whopping 22 points from winning positions this season, the Hammers could not relax.
In the 31st minute we saw why when Southampton equalised with their first attack of the afternoon through Sofiane Boufal.
Credit to the West Ham for not letting their heads drop and five minutes before half-time they regained the lead. Haller won a bouncing ball and when Antonio sent a looping cross to the far post, the Frenchman was there to beat flapping McCarthy to it and end his nine-game goal drought from the acutest angle.
The Saints brought on top scorer Danny Ings in an effort to rescue the situation but before he could have any impact the Hammers established a crucial two-goal cushion.
Fornals claimed his second assist with a clever pass for Antonio, who with just the keeper to beat grabbed his second goal of the season.
In contrast to Moyes, the mood of Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl afterwards was suitably gloomy.
“The three goals we conceded were a joke,” said the Austrian. “Any of my players who think we’re already safe have a problem. We need more than 34 points.”
TAKE A BOW: Bowen celebrates his strike
MICHAEL O’NEILL refused to slam his Stoke players after they squandered the chance to put the boot into one of their relegation rivals.
The Potters had looked like they were strolling to victory as soon as Sam Vokes had nudged them in front on nine minutes.
Yet Stoke somehow managed to concede a mad last-minute penalty, coolly converted by Luton skipper James Collins.
Defeat for the lowly Hatters would have put the skids under their recent mini-revival.
Yet it will be Stoke who are staring down the barrel again if Middlesbrough beat Nottingham Forest tomorrow night.
Fourth-bottom Stoke clawed their way out of the drop zone for the first time on Boxing Day but suddenly look vulnerable again.
O’Neill said: “It’s a bit harsh on the lads to say we threw it away. It was a very soft penalty, if it’s a penalty at all.
“For the third game in a week, with two back-to-back away games, we played really well. In the first half we created more chances than the one goal we scored.
“In the second half we expected the home team to come out and put pressure on us, which they did, but I thought we defended really well.
“So to lose the two points as we did was disappointing, but it would be wrong to say we threw it away.”
Luton boss Graeme Jones said: “We were treading in quicksand for long parts of the game, it looked like it was going to be one of those days.
“But I never give up – not with these lads. A point keeps our momentum going.”