WEST HAM GAVE their supporters plenty to cheer as they boosted their Premier League survival hopes with a 3-0 victory over fellow strugglers Southampton.
Three weeks on from the angry pitch invasions during West Ham’s capitulation to Burnley, the Hammers turned on the style on Saturday amid increased security at London Stadium.
Home fans were more than happy to stay in their seats as David Moyes’ side moved five points clear of the relegation zone, a first-half double from Marko Arnautovic coming after Joao Mario had broken the deadlock.
There was added significance for Arnautovic as he proved to be Mark Hughes’ tormentor for the second time this season, the Austrian – who scored against Hughes’ Stoke City in December – coming back to haunt his former boss on his league debut in the Saints dugout.
Charlie Austin’s return did little to boost the visitors – who failed to have a shot on target – as Hughes slipped to a fourth loss in a first match in charge of a new Premier League club.
The Saints remain embroiled in a relegation fight with seven games to play, Southampton now two points from safety and five behind West Ham – who rise to 14th.
Keen to avoid a repeat of the ugly scenes from their last home game, West Ham were immediately on the front foot and it paid dividends with two early goals.
With 13 minutes on the clock, a stray pass from Mario Lemina was intercepted by Hammers skipper Mark Noble, who released Cheikhou Kouyate to charge at the Southampton defence.
The midfielder’s cross found Joao Mario in acres of space and he lashed the ball beyond Alex McCarthy.
Four minutes later the Hammers doubled their advantage, Joao Mario turning provider for Arnautovic, who beat McCarthy at the second attempt after missing a glorious chance moments earlier.
Kouyate and substitute Edimilson Fernandes wasted chances to stretch their advantage, but Arnautovic made no mistake in first-half stoppage time with a crisp volley from Arthur Masuaku’s deep cross.
A more relaxed West Ham returned after the break as confidence began to grow both on and off the pitch, Moyes’ men keeping Southampton at bay as the visitors looked to mount a comeback.
Despite enjoying more possession than their hosts early in the second half, Southampton failed to test Joe Hart with anything other than dangerous crosses – the England goalkeeper handling them with aplomb.
Arnautovic went close to completing his hat-trick just after the hour on a rare foray into Southampton territory, but his curling effort was just wide of McCarthy’s left-hand post.
The treble would not come as his day came to an early end – Jordan Hugill replacing him – but the 28-year-old had already done enough to lift the mood around London Stadium.
Victoria Jones
Victoria Jones
WEST BROM 1
BURNLEY 2
West Brom sunk closer to Premier League relegation as Burnley edged to a nervy 2-1 victory at the Hawthorns on Saturday.
Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood – both scorers in the Clarets’ win at West Ham last time out – struck either side of half-time to consign the home side to a crippling eighth straight league defeat.
Salomon Rondon did grab a reward for his efforts with a well-taken consolation in the 83rd minute, but the Baggies largely lacked the necessary verve to break down the best defence outside the top six.
Barnes’ 22nd-minute strike would have been a worthy winner alone, the bulldozing forward exhibiting his classier side by hooking in Aaron Lennon’s cross amid a one-sided first half.
Instead, Sean Dyche’s side established a buffer when Wood forced in a second in the 73rd minute and that proved important as Rondon soon halved the deficit.
Advertisement
West Brom forced a late scramble and knocked on the door but the comeback ultimately fell short, leaving Alan Pardew’s men 10 points shy of safety and with their dwindling chances of survival seemingly set to evaporate over the remaining six fixtures.
Mark Kerton
Mark Kerton
Buoyed by his first England call-up, goalkeeper Pope looked assured in snaffling a looping Rondon header inside 10 minutes.
Ben Mee then sliced a hurried effort straight to Ben Foster as the early signs illustrated why these teams had scored 51 goals in a combined 61 league matches this term.
That was, however, until Barnes defied expectation with a stunning finish. Lennon lofted a cross behind the in-form striker, but he readjusted well and volleyed expertly past a helpless Foster.
Chris Wood next nodded wide from a corner as the probing visitors sought to prey on West Brom’s mental demons, although it was Pope who came to Burnley’s rescue in first-half stoppage time.
The 25-year-old reacted impressively to claw another Rondon header out of the bottom right corner, keeping his side ahead at the interval.
Pardew responded by introducing Matt Phillips in place of Kieran Gibbs for the second half and the attacking intent was noticeable with Chris Brunt and Rondon both whipping dangerous deliveries across the face of goal.
The unlikely figure of Ahmed Hegazi was next to swing in a cross that Pope manfully punched clear, before Ashley Westwood fired wastefully wide at the other end.
But the miss mattered little when Matt Lowton slipped a pass into Wood, the New Zealand international nodding home at the second attempt after his initial effort rebounded kindly off Foster.
Rondon did spark some hope of a Baggies revival by lashing in a hopeful Jonny Evans cross late in proceedings, but a goalmouth scramble in stoppage time was the best they could manage amid a desperate finish.
NEWCASTLE 1
HUDDERSFIELD 0
Owen Humphreys
Owen Humphreys
Newcastle United took a huge step towards Premier League safety and extended their fine home run with a 1-0 victory over Huddersfield Town at St James’ Park.
Ayoze Perez’s 80th-minute winner settled a nervy contest on Saturday, Newcastle deservedly taking the three points after missing a series of first-half chances.
Dwight Gayle was most guilty of wastefulness, but it was Kenedy – twice a scorer last time out – who was cool enough in the closing stages to pick out Perez to break the deadlock.
After a run of five straight defeats on Tyneside, Rafael Benitez’s side are now unbeaten in seven at home in all competitions, winning the last three to move within two victories of the 40-point mark targeted by the Newcastle manager for top-flight survival.
Huddersfield’s situation is a little graver, David Wagner’s men having not scored in four matches as they face a tough run-in in their own bid to preserve Premier League status.
Newcastle enjoyed the better of the play from the off in a feisty opening to the game, Jonjo Shelvey fizzing the first chance of note just wide from 20 yards after quarter of an hour. The in-form Matt Ritchie ran through and poked a left-footed finish straight at Jonas Lossl shortly afterwards, before Gayle also shot too close to the goalkeeper. Gayle then somehow lifted the ball wide when he looked destined to open the scoring, controlling Shelvey’s searching pass but failing to keep his effort on target as Lossl charged out.
And Gayle missed another huge chance before the break: DeAndre Yedlin’s cross bounced through the area to find the striker, but he could only prod over the crossbar as he stretched to make contact.
Although Newcastle remained on top following the restart, Laurent Depoitre belatedly mustered an opening for Huddersfield, turning away from Florian Lejeune to drag wide. The visitors should have then led, with Mathias Jorgensen’s header from a corner striking team-mate Collin Quaner in front of goal as Martin Dubravka stood rooted, prompting a scramble before the goalkeeper finally pounced on the ball. Perez acrobatically volleyed wide and substitute Christian Atsu blazed over the top, with Islam Slimani arriving in place of Gayle to a hearty roar from the home supporters.
But finally, with 10 minutes remaining, Newcastle’s moment came. Atsu’s cross was flicked away from Slimani by Lossl but fell for Kenedy, who teed up Perez to slide the ball inside the bottom-left corner to the relief of the crowd, giving Benitez’s men a platform to see out the game.
WATFORD 2
BOURNEMOUTH 2
Jermain Defoe struck deep into stoppage time to rescue a 2-2 draw for Bournemouth at Watford on Saturday, ending Javi Gracia’s 100 per cent home winning record in the Premier League.
Goals from Kiko Femenia and Roberto Pereyra appeared to have done enough for the home side, who had dug deep to hold the lead, but second-half substitute Defoe punished slack defending to secure a share of the spoils at Vicarage Road.
Despite an encouraging start, Bournemouth found themselves trailing early on through Femenia’s first Premier League goal, which was aided by a deflection.
The visitors were gifted an equaliser on the stroke of half-time when Jose Holebas bizarrely opted to push the ball away with his hand inside the area, leaving Josh King to coolly convert from 12 yards.
Watford were seemingly jolted back into life by Gracia at half-time as they appeared more aggressive at the start of the second period and Pereyra put them ahead in the 49th minute – a deflection benefiting the hosts again.
But they were unable to maintain their level and Bournemouth levelled right at the end, Defoe capitalising on a loss of concentration by smashing home from close range, ending Gracia’s run of three successive home wins at the start of his Watford tenure.
Mark Kerton
Mark Kerton
Bournemouth were purposeful and dangerous in a strong start at Vicarage Road and crafted two early chances.
Nathan Ake hit the crossbar with a close-range header, before Junior Stanislas did well to test Orestis Karnezis from just outside the area after spinning Femenia.
But in the 13th minute Watford made them pay for not making the most of their chances.
A corner was cleared as far as Femenia just inside the area and the Spaniard steered a volley goalwards, with a crucial deflection off King taking the ball away from Asmir Begovic.
But a moment of madness from Holebas gifted Bournemouth the chance to restore parity just before the break as the left-back slapped the ball in the area and King tucked away the resulting penalty.
Bournemouth did not remain on level terms for long, however, with Watford regaining the lead three minutes into the second period.
Troy Deeney passed into the area from the left after tussling with Ryan Fraser and Will Hughes teed up Pereyra, whose effort took a slight flick off Dan Gosling before finding the bottom-right corner.
After something of a lull, Eddie Howe showed his intent by introducing Defoe for the ineffective Jordon Ibe just after the hour to provide support for Callum Wilson and King.
And that gung-ho approach ultimately paid off for Howe when Defoe latched on to a loose bouncing ball in the area and confidently blasted past Karnezis in the second minute of stoppage time to secure a deserved point for the Cherries.
BRIGHTON 0
LEICESTER 2
Gareth Fuller
Gareth Fuller
Glenn Murray had a penalty saved before Vicente Iborra and Jamie Vardy struck late for 10-man Leicester City as they beat Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0 to prevent the Seagulls from all but securing their Premier League status.
Kasper Schmeichel was at fault for Chelsea’s extra-time winner as Leicester were knocked out of the FA Cup last time out, but he was a hero for the Foxes on this occasion.
The Dane got down low to his left to deny Murray, who had missed a gilt-edged chance in the first half, after Harry Maguire brought down Jose Izquierdo.
And Leicester quickly took advantage of that let-off as Iborra popped up to settle what had for the most part been a disappointing contest.
Iborra glanced Ben Chilwell’s left-wing cross into the bottom-right corner, yet there was another twist in the tale as Leicester’s Wilfred Ndidi was sent off for a second yellow card.
But the visitors held firm despite their numerical disadvantage and Vardy added late gloss to the scoreline with an injury-time tap-in, Brighton unable to claim a win that would have seen them go nine points clear of third-bottom Southampton. Instead, they remain six points clear of the drop.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Fired-up Hammers edge closer to safety as home defeat leaves West Brom looking doomed
WEST HAM 3
SOUTHAMPTON 0
WEST HAM GAVE their supporters plenty to cheer as they boosted their Premier League survival hopes with a 3-0 victory over fellow strugglers Southampton.
Three weeks on from the angry pitch invasions during West Ham’s capitulation to Burnley, the Hammers turned on the style on Saturday amid increased security at London Stadium.
Home fans were more than happy to stay in their seats as David Moyes’ side moved five points clear of the relegation zone, a first-half double from Marko Arnautovic coming after Joao Mario had broken the deadlock.
There was added significance for Arnautovic as he proved to be Mark Hughes’ tormentor for the second time this season, the Austrian – who scored against Hughes’ Stoke City in December – coming back to haunt his former boss on his league debut in the Saints dugout.
Charlie Austin’s return did little to boost the visitors – who failed to have a shot on target – as Hughes slipped to a fourth loss in a first match in charge of a new Premier League club.
The Saints remain embroiled in a relegation fight with seven games to play, Southampton now two points from safety and five behind West Ham – who rise to 14th.
Keen to avoid a repeat of the ugly scenes from their last home game, West Ham were immediately on the front foot and it paid dividends with two early goals.
With 13 minutes on the clock, a stray pass from Mario Lemina was intercepted by Hammers skipper Mark Noble, who released Cheikhou Kouyate to charge at the Southampton defence.
The midfielder’s cross found Joao Mario in acres of space and he lashed the ball beyond Alex McCarthy.
Four minutes later the Hammers doubled their advantage, Joao Mario turning provider for Arnautovic, who beat McCarthy at the second attempt after missing a glorious chance moments earlier.
Kouyate and substitute Edimilson Fernandes wasted chances to stretch their advantage, but Arnautovic made no mistake in first-half stoppage time with a crisp volley from Arthur Masuaku’s deep cross.
A more relaxed West Ham returned after the break as confidence began to grow both on and off the pitch, Moyes’ men keeping Southampton at bay as the visitors looked to mount a comeback.
Despite enjoying more possession than their hosts early in the second half, Southampton failed to test Joe Hart with anything other than dangerous crosses – the England goalkeeper handling them with aplomb.
Arnautovic went close to completing his hat-trick just after the hour on a rare foray into Southampton territory, but his curling effort was just wide of McCarthy’s left-hand post.
The treble would not come as his day came to an early end – Jordan Hugill replacing him – but the 28-year-old had already done enough to lift the mood around London Stadium.
WEST BROM 1
BURNLEY 2
West Brom sunk closer to Premier League relegation as Burnley edged to a nervy 2-1 victory at the Hawthorns on Saturday.
Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood – both scorers in the Clarets’ win at West Ham last time out – struck either side of half-time to consign the home side to a crippling eighth straight league defeat.
Salomon Rondon did grab a reward for his efforts with a well-taken consolation in the 83rd minute, but the Baggies largely lacked the necessary verve to break down the best defence outside the top six.
Barnes’ 22nd-minute strike would have been a worthy winner alone, the bulldozing forward exhibiting his classier side by hooking in Aaron Lennon’s cross amid a one-sided first half.
Instead, Sean Dyche’s side established a buffer when Wood forced in a second in the 73rd minute and that proved important as Rondon soon halved the deficit.
West Brom forced a late scramble and knocked on the door but the comeback ultimately fell short, leaving Alan Pardew’s men 10 points shy of safety and with their dwindling chances of survival seemingly set to evaporate over the remaining six fixtures.
Buoyed by his first England call-up, goalkeeper Pope looked assured in snaffling a looping Rondon header inside 10 minutes.
Ben Mee then sliced a hurried effort straight to Ben Foster as the early signs illustrated why these teams had scored 51 goals in a combined 61 league matches this term.
That was, however, until Barnes defied expectation with a stunning finish. Lennon lofted a cross behind the in-form striker, but he readjusted well and volleyed expertly past a helpless Foster.
Chris Wood next nodded wide from a corner as the probing visitors sought to prey on West Brom’s mental demons, although it was Pope who came to Burnley’s rescue in first-half stoppage time.
The 25-year-old reacted impressively to claw another Rondon header out of the bottom right corner, keeping his side ahead at the interval.
Pardew responded by introducing Matt Phillips in place of Kieran Gibbs for the second half and the attacking intent was noticeable with Chris Brunt and Rondon both whipping dangerous deliveries across the face of goal.
The unlikely figure of Ahmed Hegazi was next to swing in a cross that Pope manfully punched clear, before Ashley Westwood fired wastefully wide at the other end.
But the miss mattered little when Matt Lowton slipped a pass into Wood, the New Zealand international nodding home at the second attempt after his initial effort rebounded kindly off Foster.
Rondon did spark some hope of a Baggies revival by lashing in a hopeful Jonny Evans cross late in proceedings, but a goalmouth scramble in stoppage time was the best they could manage amid a desperate finish.
NEWCASTLE 1
HUDDERSFIELD 0
Newcastle United took a huge step towards Premier League safety and extended their fine home run with a 1-0 victory over Huddersfield Town at St James’ Park.
Ayoze Perez’s 80th-minute winner settled a nervy contest on Saturday, Newcastle deservedly taking the three points after missing a series of first-half chances.
Dwight Gayle was most guilty of wastefulness, but it was Kenedy – twice a scorer last time out – who was cool enough in the closing stages to pick out Perez to break the deadlock.
After a run of five straight defeats on Tyneside, Rafael Benitez’s side are now unbeaten in seven at home in all competitions, winning the last three to move within two victories of the 40-point mark targeted by the Newcastle manager for top-flight survival.
Huddersfield’s situation is a little graver, David Wagner’s men having not scored in four matches as they face a tough run-in in their own bid to preserve Premier League status.
Newcastle enjoyed the better of the play from the off in a feisty opening to the game, Jonjo Shelvey fizzing the first chance of note just wide from 20 yards after quarter of an hour. The in-form Matt Ritchie ran through and poked a left-footed finish straight at Jonas Lossl shortly afterwards, before Gayle also shot too close to the goalkeeper. Gayle then somehow lifted the ball wide when he looked destined to open the scoring, controlling Shelvey’s searching pass but failing to keep his effort on target as Lossl charged out.
And Gayle missed another huge chance before the break: DeAndre Yedlin’s cross bounced through the area to find the striker, but he could only prod over the crossbar as he stretched to make contact.
Although Newcastle remained on top following the restart, Laurent Depoitre belatedly mustered an opening for Huddersfield, turning away from Florian Lejeune to drag wide. The visitors should have then led, with Mathias Jorgensen’s header from a corner striking team-mate Collin Quaner in front of goal as Martin Dubravka stood rooted, prompting a scramble before the goalkeeper finally pounced on the ball. Perez acrobatically volleyed wide and substitute Christian Atsu blazed over the top, with Islam Slimani arriving in place of Gayle to a hearty roar from the home supporters.
But finally, with 10 minutes remaining, Newcastle’s moment came. Atsu’s cross was flicked away from Slimani by Lossl but fell for Kenedy, who teed up Perez to slide the ball inside the bottom-left corner to the relief of the crowd, giving Benitez’s men a platform to see out the game.
WATFORD 2
BOURNEMOUTH 2
Jermain Defoe struck deep into stoppage time to rescue a 2-2 draw for Bournemouth at Watford on Saturday, ending Javi Gracia’s 100 per cent home winning record in the Premier League.
Goals from Kiko Femenia and Roberto Pereyra appeared to have done enough for the home side, who had dug deep to hold the lead, but second-half substitute Defoe punished slack defending to secure a share of the spoils at Vicarage Road.
Despite an encouraging start, Bournemouth found themselves trailing early on through Femenia’s first Premier League goal, which was aided by a deflection.
The visitors were gifted an equaliser on the stroke of half-time when Jose Holebas bizarrely opted to push the ball away with his hand inside the area, leaving Josh King to coolly convert from 12 yards.
Watford were seemingly jolted back into life by Gracia at half-time as they appeared more aggressive at the start of the second period and Pereyra put them ahead in the 49th minute – a deflection benefiting the hosts again.
But they were unable to maintain their level and Bournemouth levelled right at the end, Defoe capitalising on a loss of concentration by smashing home from close range, ending Gracia’s run of three successive home wins at the start of his Watford tenure.
Bournemouth were purposeful and dangerous in a strong start at Vicarage Road and crafted two early chances.
Nathan Ake hit the crossbar with a close-range header, before Junior Stanislas did well to test Orestis Karnezis from just outside the area after spinning Femenia.
But in the 13th minute Watford made them pay for not making the most of their chances.
A corner was cleared as far as Femenia just inside the area and the Spaniard steered a volley goalwards, with a crucial deflection off King taking the ball away from Asmir Begovic.
But a moment of madness from Holebas gifted Bournemouth the chance to restore parity just before the break as the left-back slapped the ball in the area and King tucked away the resulting penalty.
Bournemouth did not remain on level terms for long, however, with Watford regaining the lead three minutes into the second period.
Troy Deeney passed into the area from the left after tussling with Ryan Fraser and Will Hughes teed up Pereyra, whose effort took a slight flick off Dan Gosling before finding the bottom-right corner.
After something of a lull, Eddie Howe showed his intent by introducing Defoe for the ineffective Jordon Ibe just after the hour to provide support for Callum Wilson and King.
And that gung-ho approach ultimately paid off for Howe when Defoe latched on to a loose bouncing ball in the area and confidently blasted past Karnezis in the second minute of stoppage time to secure a deserved point for the Cherries.
BRIGHTON 0
LEICESTER 2
Glenn Murray had a penalty saved before Vicente Iborra and Jamie Vardy struck late for 10-man Leicester City as they beat Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0 to prevent the Seagulls from all but securing their Premier League status.
Kasper Schmeichel was at fault for Chelsea’s extra-time winner as Leicester were knocked out of the FA Cup last time out, but he was a hero for the Foxes on this occasion.
The Dane got down low to his left to deny Murray, who had missed a gilt-edged chance in the first half, after Harry Maguire brought down Jose Izquierdo.
And Leicester quickly took advantage of that let-off as Iborra popped up to settle what had for the most part been a disappointing contest.
Iborra glanced Ben Chilwell’s left-wing cross into the bottom-right corner, yet there was another twist in the tale as Leicester’s Wilfred Ndidi was sent off for a second yellow card.
But the visitors held firm despite their numerical disadvantage and Vardy added late gloss to the scoreline with an injury-time tap-in, Brighton unable to claim a win that would have seen them go nine points clear of third-bottom Southampton. Instead, they remain six points clear of the drop.
- Omni
United bump Liverpool back out of second place thanks to Lukaku and Sanchez
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
PL Results Premier League Review