Ivan Juric’s first Premier League match in charge of Southampton ended in disappointment as Jarrod Bowen secured a 1-0 win for West Ham United at St Mary’s.
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Southampton had the better of the chances in the first half despite a bright West Ham start, with Paul Onuachu guilty of missing a host of opportunities and West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski making a number of crucial saves before he was forced off with a serious-looking head injury following a collision with Nathan Wood.
Juric’s team thought they would have a numerical advantage when Guido Rodriguez was shown a red card for a challenge on Kyle Walker-Peters early in the first half, but referee Lewis Smith downgraded it to a booking following a VAR review.
The deadlock was broken just before the hour-mark – Bowen poking home from close range after latching on to Niclas Fullkrug’s flick-on to score his first goal outside London since March, and his 100th in English league football.
Onuachu and Tyler Dibling passed up presentable chances late on as West Ham made it four league games unbeaten and moved above Manchester United into 13th, while Southampton remain bottom.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 |
West Ham
WHU
|
18 | -7 | 23 |
| 14 |
Man Utd
MUN
|
18 | -3 | 22 |
| 15 |
Everton
EVE
|
17 | -7 | 17 |
| 16 |
Crystal Palace
CRY
|
18 | -8 | 17 |
| 17 |
Wolves
WOL
|
18 | -11 | 15 |
| 18 |
Leicester
LEI
|
18 | -18 | 14 |
| 19 |
Ipswich
IPS
|
17 | -16 | 12 |
| 20 |
Southampton
SOU
|
18 | -26 | 6 |
How the match unfolded
Carlos Soler cannoned a shot off the crossbar and Onuachu headed wide at the other end in a frantic start.
Fabianski thwarted Mateus Fernandes and Onuachu, but he had to be taken off on a stretcher after a collision with Wood from a corner, and his replacement Alphonse Areola saved well from another gilt-edged Onuachu chance on the stroke of half-time.
Rodriguez seemed to have received his marching orders when he went in on Walker-Peters, but West Ham received a lifeline after the VAR recommended an on-field review.
West Ham made their luck count in the 59th minute, with Bowen poking in from Fullkrug’s header.
Fernandes dragged wide, Dibling sliced over and Onuachu headed off target as Southampton searched for an equaliser that did not arrive.
Positive signs for Juric, but no points
The new Southampton boss will have been pleased with many elements of his side’s first-half display, but ultimately they lacked the finishing touch.
Both Yukinari Sugawara and Walker-Peters offered width and attacking intent, with Southampton finding plenty of joy down the flanks. Had Onuachu, handed a start by Juric, had his shooting boots on, matters could have been much different, while Fernandes should have done a lot better with the opportunities that came his way.
Juric will know that missed chances on a regular basis will prove costly at this level, and that came to pass, with Bowen’s goal coming at a time when the home side had been the better team.
As it stands, the situation looks bleak for Southampton, who are six points behind 19th-placed Ipswich Town.
Juric will look to take the positives, but if he is to drag Southampton to safety, they need to take points, and quickly. They next face Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Hammers getting it together
Julen Lopetegui has been under pressure at various points already this season, but that is now four matches unbeaten for the Hammers, who are only five points behind seventh-placed Manchester City.
Though they could have taken the lead early on through Soler, West Ham were second best for large parts of the opening 45 minutes, with Bowen posing the greatest threat.
It was no surprise, then, that their captain came up with the goods when presented with their clearest opportunity. Bowen stole a march on his marker to meet Fullkrug’s flick-on from Tomas Soucek’s header into the area, and duly turned in a neat finish.
Their victory came at a cost though, with centre-back Max Kilman forced off early on and Fabianski suffering a nasty head injury that saw him receive treatment for nearly 10 minutes before being stretchered off.
West Ham and Lopetegui will hope they can build on this victory in their next outing on Sunday, when they welcome leaders Liverpool to London Stadium.
Club reports
Southampton report | West Ham report
What the managers said
Ivan Juric: “I think we did a really good performance. The first half we created lots of chances – even second half, we conceded the goal, but we played well, pressed high."
Julen Lopetegui: "In the first half, yes we did suffer some clear chances but to highlight, I repeat that we handled a very tough match today and we handled big problems with injuries and this kind of situation."
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Key facts
Jarrod Bowen scored his 48th Premier League goal, taking him outright second in West Ham’s leading Premier League scorers, with only Michail Antonio now scoring more (68). It was also his 100th league goal in English football's top four tiers.
Southampton have picked up just six points in their 18 Premier League games this season, becoming the third team to have as few as that after 18 games, along with Sunderland in 2005/06 (six) and Sheffield United in 2020/21 (five), both of whom finished bottom.
Aaron Cresswell made his 300th Premier League appearance, becoming only the second West Ham player to hit that total after Mark Noble (414). Adam Lallana also made his 300th appearance, coming on for Southampton – the four others to play their 300th game on Boxing Day are Chris Perry (2003), Nigel Martyn (2003), Matthew Taylor (2013) and Aaron Lennon (2015).
West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski became the oldest player (39 years and 252 days) to appear in a Premier League match on Boxing Day since Mark Schwarzer in 2012 for Fulham v Southampton (40 years and 81 days).
