Saints Share The Spoils – Southampton 1 West Ham 1

Both Southampton and West Ham moved to within touching distance of safety after a hard-fought draw at a rainy St. Mary’s. The Saints looked like extending their winning streak on […]


Both Southampton and West Ham moved to within touching distance of safety after a hard-fought draw at a rainy St. Mary’s.

The Saints looked like extending their winning streak on 59 minutes when Gaston Ramirez ran through on goal and placed the ball over the diving Jussi Jaaskelainen. Their lead didn’t last long though as Andy Carroll’s deflected free-kick ensured that both teams left with a point apiece.

Gaston Ramirez opens the scoring at a rain-soaked St. Mary’s. Credit: @SouthamptonFC

The draw means that both teams are now seven points clear of the relegation zone, with F.A. Cup finalists Wigan occupying 18th place with 31 points. Despite their newly promoted status, they have not always been as close in the table as they are now. Indeed, after 13 games West Ham occupied 8th place and were just two points off a Europa League spot, while Southampton found themselves down in 18th, having amassed only 11 points.

Despite the conditions, both teams made an encouraging start to the match with Kevin Nolan forcing a decent save from Artur Boruc and Rickie Lambert orchestrating an excellent attack down the right. In spite of the bright start, either team struggled to fashion out any clear-cut chances inside the first half hour, with the first real sniff of goal coming in the 36th minute. Rickie Lambert got himself on the end of Ramirez’s free-kick from the right and would have scored had it not been for the outstretched hand of Jaaskelainen – the Finnish keeper forcing the ball onto the post and out of play.

Andy Carroll had the first chance of the second half, firing just wide from outside the six-yard box. However, it was Southampton who opened the scoring.  Ramirez latched onto James Tomkins’ clearance and, after his initial shot was blocked, ran through on goal and placed the ball over the diving Jussi Jaaskelainen. Seven minutes later and West Ham had a free-kick 25 yards-out from goal. Gary O’Neil rolled the ball into the path of Carroll whose shot towards the bottom left corner took deflections off two West Ham players and ended up in the opposite side of the net. The Hammers could have won it on 77 minutes when Carroll took advantage of a slip from Jos Hooiveld to drive into the box, however his resultant shot was well-saved by the Saints’ keeper.

Writer’s Comment: Not too much to say about this game, both teams struggled on the wet surface in a match of few dramas. As for their Premier League status’, they are all but safe. However, confirmation of this may not come as quickly as they might like, with tricky matches against Swansea and Manchester United next up for Southampton and West Ham respectively.

Man Of The Match: Nathaniel Clyne – Despite a relatively quiet second half, the young right back combined sound defending with a number of powering runs forward, each one causing havoc for the opposing defence.