Saints claim comfortable victory
WHUFC.com
Charlie Austin, Dusan Tadic and James Ward-Prowse scored the goals to help
Southampton record a 3-0 victory over the Hammers at London Stadium.
Slaven Bilic's side were desperate to make amends for recent defeats against
Watford and West Brom, but they were unable to produce their best form and
failed to take anything from the game.
With another home game to come against Middlesbrough next weekend, Bilic
will be hoping his side can get back on the winning trail and turn their
season around.
It was a bright opening for the home side as they looked to start the game
strongly and they could have opened the scoring after three minutes when
Simone Zaza fired a shot past the post.
Zaza then turned provider on nine minutes as he laid the ball off for
Michail Antonio who drilled a shot wide of the goal.
The Hammers continued to create the best openings and had claims for a
penalty turned down on 15 minutes after Zaza appeared to be clipped in the
box by Cedric but referee Jonathan Moss waved for play to continue.
Southampton made West Ham pay for those missed opportunities when they broke
the deadlock on 40 minutes.
Dusan Tadic picked out Ryan Bertrand who cut the ball back for Austin and he
beat Ogbonna to fire a left-foot shot past Adrian into the corner of the
net.
The Hammers keeper came to West Ham's rescue two minutes later when he made
a fine save to keep out a low shot from Nathan Redmond.
Adrian produced another fine save on 51 minutes when he produced a superb
one handed save to keep out a low shot from Tadic.
But he could do nothing to stop Southampton adding a second on 62 minutes.
Austin turned provider this time as he played the perfect pass in for Tadic
who took the ball around Adrian and slotted the ball into the back of the
net.
The Hammers had strong claims once again for a penalty turned down on 72
minutes when Bertrand appeared to block substitute Sofiane Feghouli's shot
with his hand, but Moss once again refused to point to the penalty spot.
West Ham refused to lie down and did their best to find a way back into the
game.
Michail Antonio picked out Payet on the edge of the box and he stuck his
shot inches past the post.
Saints defender Virgil Virgil van Dijk was then in the right place at the
right time on 77 minutes to clear Zaza's effort off the line.
Southampton completed the victory in injury time when Steven Davis cut the
ball back for Ward-Prowse and he fired the ball home from close-range.
With five defeats from the opening six Premier League games, Bilic will be
doing everything this week to address the situation and will hope to find a
winning formula against Middlesbrough next weekend.
West Ham: Adrian; Nordveit (Fletcher 71), Ogobnna, Reid, Arbeloa; Noble
(Fernandes 82); Antonio, Kouyate, Lanzini (Feghouli 46), Payet; Zaza
Subs not used: Randolph, Byram, Obiang, Oxford
Bookings: Noble, Zaza, Reid, Payet
Southampton: Forster; Cedric (Martina 88), Van Dijk, Fonte, Bertrand; Romeu,
Hojbjerg, Davis, Tadic (Ward-Prowse 80); Redmond, Austin (Long 74)
Subs not used: McCarthy, Yoshida, Clasie, Hesketh
Bookings: Romeu, Van Dijk
Referee: Jonathan Moss
Attendance: 56,864
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Bilic seeking confidence boost
WHUFC.com
Slaven Bilic says West Ham United are desperately seeking a
confidence-boosting win after a 3-0 home defeat by Southampton.
The Hammers slumped to a fifth loss in their opening six Premier League
matches, going down to a Saints team who had previously scored just four
goals in their opening five games themselves.
In truth, West Ham looked like a team lacking belief in the final third,
while defensive errors were again capitalised upon by their opponents, as
they had been in 4-2 defeats by Watford and West Bromwich Albion in the
previous two league matches.
"We are not the first or the last team who has been in this situation in the
Premier League and most of it is about confidence, but the Club has the same
players and the same manager who did good things last year," said Bilic.
"Eighty per cent of the team is the same, and of course we can talk about
confidence and urge them to be confident, but you need one or two good
results to get that confidence and that's not happening at the moment.
"We are working hard in training, analysing and talking and it's good until
the game comes and someone punches us in the face, then we have a problem."
We are working hard in training, analysing and talking and it's good until
the game comes and someone punches us in the face, then we have a problem
Slaven Bilic
Having conceded four goals in each of their previous two league games, Bilic
set his team up to be more disciplined and compact, and that was the case
for much of the first half, only for Charlie Austin to convert their first
chance a minute before half-time from Ryan Bertrand's low cross.
West Ham threw caution to the wind after the break, but found Claude Puel's
well-organised Saints a difficult team to break down.
While the Hammers found it hard to fashion clear-cut chances, Southampton
took advantage of a defensive lapse to double their lead when Dusan Tadic
rounded Adrian – by far the busier of the two goalkeepers – to score.
Then, in added time, substitute James Ward-Prowse completed a miserable
afternoon by converting Steven Davis's cutback.
"They deserved it. We started well, with people behind the ball and closing
the opponent down. We were defending well as a team, considering we had
conceded eight goals in the last couple of games.
"In the first half, in that part of the game we were good, we were compact
and everything. But we weren't happy with the way we were with the ball,
especially in the last third of the pitch, where we didn't penetrate enough.
"The first mission was to be better defensively, but that should be the
mission in every game. In the first half we were solid and regrouped well
behind the ball, but we're at home and need points and we were not happy
with the way we attacked when we had the ball.
"We were a little bit unlucky in the first half, because they didn't deserve
to be one up in my opinion.
"In the second half we were trying to get back in the game, but we made one
big mistake and they took advantage of it.
"After it went to 2-0, we tried to put them under pressure and had a couple
of chances which were on target, but they were always very quick in the
moment of transition and had a few chances as well."
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Reid - We need to dig deep
WHUFC.com
Defender says Hammers need to work harder to turn around recent poor run of
form
West Ham United were beaten 3-0 by Southampton at London Stadium on Sunday
Next up is the visit of newly-promoted Middlesbrough on Saturday 1 October
Winston Reid says West Ham United need to 'dig deep' following a 3-0 home
Premier League defeat by Southampton.
The Hammers' indifferent start to 2016/17 continued with a deserved defeat
at London Stadium, where the Saints secured victory through goals from
Charlie Austin, Dusan Tadic and substitute James Ward-Prowse.
Centre-half Reid and his colleagues have now conceded 16 goals in just six
matches, losing five of them to slip to 18th in the table ahead of next
weekend's visit of newly-promoted Middlesbrough.
Speaking after another disappointing afternoon for those of a Claret and
Blue persuasion, the No2 was refreshingly honest, admitting the Hammers need
to give even more effort if they are to turn their talent into points.
"When you lose you, you can always do more," said Reid. "We've played
against good teams so far and we need to work a lot harder to get a bit of
luck on our side.
"You could see out there that they worked harder than us and they got a good
result."
To get our confidence back, we need to work hard. We need to dig deep and
work a lot harder
Winston Reid
West Ham arguably edged the opening 40-odd minutes, but went in a goal down
at the break when Ryan Bertrand got in behind the back four and crossed for
Austin to hook home first-time.
An error in midfield after the break allowed Austin to play in Tadic, who
rounded the otherwise impressive Adrian to tap home, before Ward-Prowse
converted Steven Davis's cross in added time at the end of a forgettable
game.
"You can say that we aren't getting the breaks, as in the first half there
really wasn't a lot in it and they had one chance and scored a goal," Reid
observed.
"We went in at half-time with our heads held high and said we would go again
in the second half, but we just couldn't get the opening and they hit us on
the break and scored a couple of goals."
So, Reid was asked, what do West Ham need to do to turn around their
alarming run of form and start climbing the Premier League table?
"To get our confidence back, we need to work hard," he explained. "We need
to dig deep and work a lot harder.
"We're six games in and we've only got three points, so we need to dig
deeper, produce a better performance and get a win.
"The most important thing for us now is picking up that next three points."
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PL2 side aim to carry on momentum
WHUFCcom
West Ham United PL2 are in action on Monday evening at home to Brighton and
Hove Albion
The Hammers won their last fixture – a 2-0 away victory at Norwich City
The match is being held at the Chigwell Construction Stadium and is free for
season ticket holders
West Ham United PL2 entertain Brighton and Hove Albion on Monday (7pm
kick-off) and boss Terry Westley is urging his side to maintain their
momentum.
The Hammers have been impressive so far this year and currently lie second
in Premier League 2 Division 2 with three wins, a draw and a defeat from
their opening five fixtures.
Terry Westley is now asking his players to improve on their performance
against Norwich and begin to build a run of results that could see them
challenge for the league title come the end of the season.
"We were ten seconds away from making our start to the season even better
against Wolves, when they equalised in the last minute," said Westley.
"If you were to add those two lost points to our total, we'd probably be top
if other results had gone our way.
"The players know they need to improve from the Norwich game and hopefully
we can be at our very best against Brighton and get another win."
The Hammers had to call on various qualities in their previous victory – one
of those was a never-say-die attitude as they scored two late goals to sink
Norwich at Carrow Road.
The result was assured once Marcus Browne slid home Noha Sylvestre's pass
but before that, Toni Martinez had given the Hammers the lead after scoring
the rebound from his initial saved penalty.
The Spaniard has now scored seven goals in just six matches and has earned
heaps of praise from coaches and fellow players at the Academy of Football.
"To have a striker like Toni in your team is very good. It's very easy to
play with him," said midfielder Sylvestre.
"He can hold the ball up, he can score whenever he wants from lots of
different angles. He's a great player."
The Hammers will hope Martinez can continue his relentless goalscoring form
onto the home match with Brighton.
Admission is free for season ticket holders at the Chigwell Construction
Stadium for the 7pm kick-off. Otherwise, it's £5 for adults and £3 for
children.
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U18s battle to victory over Brighton
WHUFC.com
West Ham United U18s made it two wins on the spin with victory over Brighton
and Hove Albion
Jahmal Hector-Ingram scored twice and Dan Kemp scored a penalty in the 3-0
triumph
Assistant manager Mark Phillips said afterwards his team should expect the
same sort of tests in the near future
Mark Phillips has warned his team to be prepared for similar tests in the
future, after they made it two wins on the bounce with a victory at home to
Brighton and Hove Albion.
The U18's assistant manager was speaking after the Hammers left it late
against their opponents, but two goals from in-form Jahmal Hector-Ingram and
a penalty from Dan Kemp ensured a comfortable end to a battling display.
Phillips said his players should expect that their continued success, which
has seen them win four of their opening six league matches, will result in
opposing teams raising their game when they face the Hammers.
"If you continue to have success, teams will notice it and try and make
things very difficult for you," he said.
"Brighton did that really well in the first half but at half-time we had a
discussion in the dressing room and changed things up a little bit in terms
of our shape.
"I thought we then dominated the second half. For the first 20-25 minutes of
it, we missed some good chances.
"Once we scored, everybody relaxed and we ending up getting three goals."
It was a tough afternoon for the Hammers who came up against a resolute
Brighton side, but Steve Potts' players always looked the more threatening
of the two teams.
Anthony Scully hit the post midway through the first half after a delicate
ball over the Brighton defence by Kemp before right-back Ben Johnson skewed
a long-range effort wide 15 minutes later.
The Hammers cranked up the pressure on the Seagulls in the second half and
should have taken the lead on the hour mark when Kemp found himself some
space in the area, only to shoot just wide.
Joe Powell blazed over the bar ten minutes later but that was swiftly
followed by the opening goal on 78 minutes.
Hector-Ingram, who netted a hat-trick in last week's victory over Fulham,
placed the ball in the bottom corner to give the Hammers the lead. The
Hammers' No9 was fouled in the penalty area five minutes later, and Kemp
rolled home the resulting spot kick to make it two.
Then Powell crossed invitingly for Hector-Ingram on 86 minutes and he tapped
home to make the score 3-0 and make sure of the three points at Little
Heath.
The results means the Hammers are still second, level on points with leaders
Arsenal in the U18 Premier League South Division.
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