Hammers battle for Southampton stalemate
[Nikola Vlasic in action at Southampton]
Southampton 0-0 West Ham United
Premier League
West Ham United’s unbeaten start to the 2021/22 season continued with a 0-0 draw at Southampton on Saturday.
Neither team could find a way through on the South Coast, with both enjoying spells when they were on the front foot, but a point was probably fair in the end.
After Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen brought second half saves from Alex McCarthy, the Saints did end the stronger though with substitute Armando Broja twice going desperately close.
He first hit the post from outside the box, then had a header cleared off the line by Declan Rice, while Antonio was dismissed for picking up his second yellow card right at the end.
David Moyes named an unchanged team for the fourth Premier League game in succession, with his trio of new signings Kurt Zouma, Alex Král and Nikola Vlašić named on the bench.
Southampton made a sprightly start to the contest and Adam Armstrong tested Łukasz Fabiański’s handling with a low shot in the fourth minute. The right-footed effort was from an angle, though, and always directed too close to the stopper to seriously trouble him.
West Ham took a little while to get their foot on the ball and establish a degree of control, but midway through the half they began to push Southampton deeper while retaining possession well.
They didn’t create the chances to match that before the break, though, with a Bowen effort from 20 yards in the 31st minute, which was deflected behind, the closest they came.
In truth, genuine openings were very much at a premium in the opening period and Antonio looked to change that at the start of the second, making a strong run to support Saïd Benrahma on a quick break and draw a smart stop down by his near post from McCarthy.
With 51 minutes on the clock, Tomáš Souček rose well when Jarrod Bowen delivered a corner from the right, but couldn’t make the required contact on the header, as the ball slid away from Angelo Ogbonna at the far post too.
Midway through the half Bowen went close to breaking the deadlock, seizing upon a bouncing ball inside the Southampton box to swivel and volley goalwards, but McCarthy showed sharp reflexes to thrust up an arm and touch over.
Then, with nine minutes left to play, Southampton came closest of all, substitute Broja spinning away from Craig Dawson and running at Ogbonna, carrying the ball to the edge of the box before letting fly from 20 yards and striking the base or Fabiański’s far post.
In stoppage time, Broja was denied for a second time, getting his head to James Ward-Prowse’s inswinging corner, but seeing Rice clear off the line, just in time.
With Southampton finishing strongly, West Ham were probably happier with their point, but their afternoon ended on a frustrating note when Antonio picked up his second yellow card in the fifth of five added minutes, for a foul on Moussa Djenepo. It was unfortunate for the No9, who was stretching to retrieve the loose ball after battling with Mohammed Salisu, but the visitors could had few complaints over referee David Coote’s decision.
Southampton: McCarthy, Livramento, Stephens, Salisu, Perraud, Elyounoussi, Ward-Prowse (c), Romeu (Diallo 53), Djenepo, Redmond, A.Armstrong (Broja 74) Subs: Forster, Walker-Peters, Lyanco, Bednarek, Valery, Tella, Broja, Adams Booked: Romeu, Stephens, Salisu
West Ham United: Fabiański, Coufal, Dawson, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice (c), Souček, Bowen (Yarmolenko 83), Fornals, Benrahma (Vlašić 63), Antonio Subs: Areola, Fredericks, Zouma, Diop, Kral, Noble, Lanzini
Booked: Antonio, Rice
Sent off: Antonio
Referee: David Coote
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David Moyes on a hard-fought point, Antonio’s red card and the ‘unbelievable’ West Ham United supporters
David Moyes felt his West Ham United team did not quite do enough to get the better of a determined Southampton as they extended their unbeaten start to the 2021/22 Premier League season at St Mary’s Stadium. A close contest saw both teams work hard to restrict the number of clear-cut chances created by their opponent, particularly in the first half, but each did go close to snatching all three points after the break. Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen were both denied by Saints goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, before Saints substitute Armando Broja hit the post and saw a late header cleared off the line by Declan Rice. Antonio, who had tussled with Southampton centre-backs Jack Stephens and Mohammed Salisu all afternoon, was sent-off for two bookable offences in added-time and will now miss next Sunday’s home fixture with Manchester United. Speaking afterwards, Moyes felt his players did not quite click in the final third after many of them spent the majority of the past fortnight away on international duty, while also praising the ‘unbelievable’ Claret and Blue Army for their relentless and vociferous support on the south coast.
It was a hard-fought point.
It was a bit close, the game. I thought we played really well at times in the first half, but we just didn’t have the connection in forward areas today to make the difference, when in recent weeks we have and we scored two fours and a two, but we just didn’t have the connection today. Whether that’s to do with the players coming back on Thursday and Friday might have something to do with it, but I thought Southampton defended very well. I thought if we continued to play as well as we had in the first half that we would eventually wear them down and it felt like that, but again I just want to reiterate that our front players ahead of the ball didn’t quite make the right passes or the right choices. In truth, we didn’t create enough chances. We had a few but not many. I have to say, so did Southampton near the end of the game as well. [David Moyes]
I think the way we have played has been really good and the way we have passed the ball has really pleased me, but I don’t want to pass it for passing’s sake, I want to pass it to score.
I think we’ve shown that in all our previous games before today, but today we came up against a hard-working, defensive Southampton team who made it hard for us to play.
There was no reason for us to make any changes to the starting XI, was there? We’re up near the top of the league and we’d won a couple of games and drawn one.
There will be reasons during the season when we’ll have to make changes and we’ll need to make one now that Michail Antonio is facing a suspension, so we’ll need the new players and we’ll need all the squad of players to see us through in our first season when we’ve got European football as well.
I think Michail’s two yellows were justified from what I saw, but I’ve not seen them again to comment on them. I feel once you’ve had one, you certainly don’t lunge in for a challenge and get a second one.
[Michail Antonio]
I felt we needed to change the dynamic, so I introduced Nikola Vlasic for his debut, as I felt we needed another way to try and prise them open.
We had a lot of the ball and we controlled long periods of the game, but we just couldn’t find the opening, but like I said I thought Southampton defended really well today.
If you saw the West Ham supporters, you can see they’ve got belief in this team.
They were unbelievable today and I think they sense and we sense we’ve go a lot of things going on and a lot of good an exciting young players.
We want to try and show it again after last year and what the players have done, I think the supporters are right behind them and I want to say again I thought they did a great job today.
That’s eight points from four matches and we’re still unbeaten in the Premier League.
We’re trying to improve, and I think we’ve shown that. I think we have improved, I have to say, and I think the players can see it and feel it themselves.
We’ve added to the squad so we hope we’ve given ourselves a good chance to be as competitive as we were last year and try and finish high up the table.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Jarrod Bowen: A point was probably fair in the end
[Jarrod Bowen shoots for goal at Southampton]
Jarrod Bowen took a balanced view of West Ham United’s 0-0 draw at Southampton on Saturday and felt sharing the spoils was probably the fairest outcome in the end.
West Ham dominated possession – seeing 58 per cent of the ball at St Mary’s – but were not at their sharpest in the final third, while Southampton ended the contest strongly with substitute Armando Broja hitting the post and having a header cleared off the line by Declan Rice.
So while Bowen was disappointed that his team were unable to turn their possession into goals, he said they will take the point having not been at their best.
“It could have been three points, but then they could have had a couple of goals at the end when they hit the post, and then Dec clears one off the line,” the No20 explained.
“So, it’s one of those afternoons where we had a lot of the ball, but ultimately in the final third – where we’ve been really good recently – we were a bit off today.
“It’s disappointing, but when you’re not fully at it, keeping a clean sheet and getting a point away from home has to be looked at as a positive. “It’s another point in hopefully another successful season.”
[Jarrod Bowen in action at Southampton]
Bowen went as close as anybody in the visiting team to turning that single point into three, forcing Saints keeper Alex McCarthy into a fine reflex save with his left-footed volley midway through the second half.
The 24-year-old forward admitted that he thought he’d be notching his first goal of the season when the ball left his foot.
He continued: “I thought it was in. It was one of those where it was up in the air and it took an age to come down and I thought Micky was going to try and get it, but he saw it was coming down on my left foot and I just had to try and get a solid enough contact on it.
“I thought I did and it was going to go in the roof of the net, but the keeper saved it.”
Nikola Vlašić came on for his debut in the second half, and with Kurt Zouma and Alex Král among the substitutes too, Bowen is excited to see the squad building ahead of the European kick-off at Dinamo Zagreb this coming Thursday.
“It’s building on what we achieved last season,” he said. “We’ve got the Europa League this season as well, and with the players we’ve signed and the stature they’ve got, they’re only going to help improve the team.
“That’s what we want, we want competition for places, we want as many players as fit as we can because we’ve got a lot of games this season, and we want to make it a special one.”
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: West Ham United Women concede last-gasp equaliser to Aston Villa [“””]
West Ham United 1-1 Aston Villa
Barclays FA Women’s Super League
After a long and hard fight, West Ham United were unfortunate to be held to a tough 1-1 draw in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League against Aston Villa.
The team in Claret and Blue were all over the ball early doors, applying lots of pressure to the Villa backline, and it was from this which Adriana Leon put the home team 1-0 up with a well-placed finish in the eighth minute.
It was an even fight in the second half with the players running lengths of the pitch. There were shots on target for both teams, but it was Remi Allen who found the back of the net in injury time, denying West Ham a deserved win.
The Hammers’ faithful returned to their home ground, Victoria Road, for the first time in under a year, and witnessed a strong performance without the end result to match.
Olli Harder made three changes to his line-up. Dagny Brynjarsdottir came into the starting XI as Grace Fisk and Yui Hasegawa sat out due to injuries, while Hawa Cissoko also missed out due to a red card in the last game against Brighton & Hove Albion.
West Ham came on strong when Brynjarsdottir made a great run down the wing early on and sent the ball into the box for Adriana Leon, who struck the ball towards the bottom corner, an effort the out-stretched Hannah Hampton was able to deny.
In the eighth minute the Hammers were not holding back and seized on a Villa mistake, Claudia Walker taking the opportunity to square for Leon who slotted in to open the scoring and put the home team 1-0 up.
Leon continued to apply pressure and was next to go to battle with Villa’s keeper, challenging her in a race to the open goal before Hampton was able to clear of danger.
Australian international and Villa’s newest signing Emily Gielnik then attempted to level the score and bring Aston Villa into the game, but her effort flew over the crossbar.
Sarah Mayling was next to try her luck for the visitors with a free-kick, but Arnold stood strong and refused to let it past her, turning the effort away from goal.
Alisha Lehmann then worked an opportunity for Villa, crossing into the box from the right corner of the pitch, but Irons defender Gilly Flaherty was able to clear away from the danger zone.
Lehmann was not giving up, as she danced around defenders in the box and had another shot on goal which was punched away from Arnold. The subsequent corner taken by former Hammer Maz Pacheco found the head of Anita Asante in the box, but she was unable to guide it past the West Ham keeper.
The Hammers had the first shooting opportunity in the second half through Leon working her magic, whipping the ball into the box onto Brynjarsdottir’s head, but the Icelandic midfielder was unable to convert the golden opportunity, which would have likely sealed all three points.
Leon and Walker produced another two efforts on goal soon after this which were both denied by Hampton.
Villa switched on the attack, Romana Pretzelberger drilled the ball towards the bottom right of the home team’s goal, hitting the post – and West Ham remained in the lead.
A free-kick taken by Pacheco sent the ball into the danger zone giving Allen a powerful close range shot but Arnold, on her top form, managed to stop the effort from landing in the back of her net.
Four minutes of extra time afforded the Villans the opportunity for a comeback, and Allen was the one to take it, getting the ball past Arnold with just one minute to go, much to the frustration of Olli Harder and the fans watching in the stands.
The final whistle sounded in east London, with the Hammers picking up their first point of the new campaign, but they will be left disappointed that they couldn’t hang on to all three.
West Ham United Women: Arnold, Wyne, Stringer, Flaherty, Evans, Walker (Joel 74), Longhurst, Parker, Filis, Leon, Brynjarsdottir Subs: Leat, Cairns, Garrad
Goal: Leon 8
Booked: Stringer 63
Aston Villa Women: Hampton, Mayling, Allen, N’Dow, Asante, Lehmann (Davison 67), Arthur (Petzelberger 55), Gielnik, Hlorkah, LittleJohn (hayles 83) , Pacheco Subs: Hutton, Haigh, Gregory, Blindkilos-Brown, Rogers
Goal: Allen 90+3
Booked: Littlejohn 65
Attendance: 1106
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