MATCH REVIEW: New look West Ham look dominant in huge win

The prospect of three points against Southampton was massive for West Ham, who were looking to correct course and save the season. The Hammers didn’t disappoint in what proved to be a dominant win.

Take your possession stats and throw them right out the window. West Ham saw a meek little 34% possession in this match and still dominated Southampton where it mattered. With seven shots on goal, the Hammers thoroughly took their chances and buried the Saints early in this match nabbing all three vital points.

The positivity started from the team selection. A bruising and offence-heavy 4-4-2 selected by David Moyes saw hard but ultimately correct decisions made. The line up was as follows: Fabianski, Ngakia, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Bowen, Rice, Noble, Fornals, Antonio, Haller.

With Robert Snodgrass and Felipe Anderson dropping to the bench, the Hammers morphed formations to a 4-4-2 that really played like a 4-2-4 with debutant starter Jarrod Bowen and Pablo Fornals pushing the tempo up top to support their strikers.

Both players came together to get the opening goal, a dream start to Bowen’s life at West Ham. A long through ball from Fornals was left alone by Haller to allows the steaming Bowen to pick up the pass and make no mistake on his left boot. 15 minutes in and Bowen had his and his team’s first of the match.

The majority of play in this match was Southampton playing the ball out from the back, passing it around their defenders, getting it out wide to try and attack Jeremy Ngakia, and eventually either winning a corner or losing possession to Declan Rice or Bowen. That is why the possession stat doesn’t tell the tale of the match and is exactly why the Saints lost out.

They did, however, find an equalizer in the 31st minute from Michael Obafemi. A glorious cutback cross from James Ward-Prowse saw the forward catch a lucky strike that looped over Lukasz Fabianski in goal. The Saints were level, undeservingly so, and there was no blame on this goal for the keeper this time.

Refusing to say die, West Ham marched back and made some magic of their own on the back of some great link-up play between Sebastien Haller and Antonio. A long ball over the top was settled for Antonio who lofted it over the two centre-backs to Haller. The tall striker outjumped the keeper and caught his own header to narrowly slide into the goal. The effort was amazing and Haller finally had his goal in the 40th minute.

The who sides would come out for the second half and the game would continue as it did in the first half. Southampton held the ball but West Ham had the better chances. In the 54th minute, Antonio would seal the match by taking a wonderful ball from Fornals and slotting it home for the Hammers’ third. The play was terrific and showed how direct play through the middle of the pitch can return results.

Robert Snodgrass would replace Man of the Match Jarrod Bowen and Felipe Anderson would come on for Fornals late in the game, and all three points fell to the Hammers, deservingly so. It should be noted that Rice and the back four defenders were superb today, with Diop and Ogbonna showing insane strength and skill defending the onslaught of set pieces from Southampton.

This is a win you build on as a team. Bowen excelled, Fornals was an assist machine, team defending was nearly perfect, and the entire squad continued to press the pace of the game from start to finish. The three points are vital and so too was the momentum swing that will hopefully carry the Hammers forward.