West ham Pounds Southampton
Watch West Ham vs Southampton highlights as Aguerd’s header goal for the west ham in the first half at London stadium on Saturday meeting on Premier league premises.
Currently West Ham is in 14th position, whereas southampton is positioned on the bottom of premier league table of the season.
West Ham vs Southampton highlights
Nayef Aguerd guided home an precise first-half header from Thilo Kehrer’s free-kick, although the goal was only awarded after a lengthy VAR check for offside.
Until deep into the second half, when Gavin Bazunu turned away Said Benrahma’s goalbound free-kick, it was the Hammers’ only effort on target.
Lukasz Fabianski did make a couple of routine saves to deny Romeo Lavia and Carlos Alcaraz but the nearest they came was in the final minutes when £18m forward Paul Onuachu, who is still to score since joining the club from Genk in January, headed against the bar.
Victory lifted West Ham to 14th position in the premier league table. Ruben Selles, meanwhile, faces a difficult week, knowing six of the other eight teams in the relegation fight play at least once – and many twice before his Southampton side play again.
The brutal truth is Southampton’s record since Ralph Hasenhuttl’s dismissal on 7 November is worse than it had been beforehand.
Having already dispensed with the Austrian’s replacement, Nathan Jones, it would appear the Saints board have little option other than to stick with Selles, who has secured some eye-catching results without getting Southampton to a point where they could have genuine hopes of getting away from trouble.
They remain in the unenviable position of knowing that, realistically, they will remain in the bottom three even if they win their next game – which is against in-form Manchester City on 8 April and they have played more matches than the six teams immediately above them.
James Ward-Prowse remains their talisman and he did provide the cross Onuachu headed against the bar but West Ham prevented the midfielder getting a sight of goal, either in free play or, crucially, from a set-piece.
Lavia might have caught Fabianski out with his low shot into a crowded penalty area but the veteran keeper, returning after a fractured cheekbone, readjusted his position and made the save.
In addition to facing City, Southampton have trips to Arsenal and Newcastle before the month is out, which, on this evidence, will not make any supporter feel optimistic about escaping from their present predicament.
Aguerd debut to the club
Making his tenth consecutive league start for the club, the Morocco international headed home Thilo Kehrer’s free-kick midway through the first half. His effort, one awarded after a three-minute VAR check, saw the Hammers take a vital three points from London Stadium and, most importantly, out of the bottom three and into 14th.
West Ham pressed for a second after Aguerd’s effort and saw Jarrod Bowen hit the bar just before the interval, with Saïd Benrahma later denied when his free-kick was palmed wide by Gavin Bazunu after the break.
Southampton saw Paul Onuachu’s header hit the bar late on, but it was the closest the visitors went to an equaliser, as the Hammers remained unbeaten at London Stadium in 2023.
Reasons for the Hammers being in that position are not obvious. However, one is probably the inability to get Kurt Zouma and Aguerd in the same starting line-up with anything like the regularity that manager David Moyes would have wanted.
Aguerd was injured in pre-season and did not make his Premier League debut until November – as a replacement for Zouma, who had just got injured.
It meant this was only the third time they had been paired together in the top flight. West Ham have secured seven points from those games and kept two clean sheets.
Here, the pair combined well and ensured Southampton could not exert pressure around the box.
Eventually completed with the victory of west ham keep them fighting on the edge of the relegation zone.
