Charlie Austin continued his run of good form, scoring in his 4th straight match as Southampton cruised past a dismal West Ham squad at London Stadium.
Austin’s goal came in the 40th minute after a dominant first-half performance by Southampton, who held close to 60% possession. Ryan Bertrand got the ball on the break from Tadic, and tapped it to a wide-open Charlie Austin who slotted a slow roller into the corner past diving West Ham keeper Adrian.
It was a perfect cap to a half that looked to be all Southampton from the outset, with Saints taking their first chance in just the 2nd minute of play. An early through-ball to Nathan Redmond looked promising, but ran a bit too far and into the keeper’s arms.
Though dominant overall, the first half did provide a few nervy moments for Saints fans; a pair of mishandled clearances gave West Ham their best chances of the half, though both were squandered.
As the first half ended, Southampton were up a comfortable 1-0. But the Saints were far from done there.
West Ham made a tactical switch at halftime, bringing Manuel Lanzini off for Sofiane Feghouli, but the Saints continued to boss the affairs at London Stadium. Dusan Tadic had a great chance at the 51st minute to put his side 2-0 up but missed an easy shot.
A free kick on a Mark Noble yellow card provided the next opportunity, which triggered a Nathan Redmond run. Once again, though, the delivery wasn’t on and an opportunity became a goal kick. For Redmond, who hasn’t scored since opening day, it was especially frustrating as he appeared to swear at the quality of service.
“It’s a massive result to come away to West Ham and win 3-0. We’re delighted with the performance and we’ve got to keep this run going.”
It would be just past the hour mark when Dusan Tadic would get his second chance, and this one he made count in spectacular form. Released by Charlie Austin, the unmarked Tadic rounded Adrian with ease and rolled it home to make it 2-0 to Southampton.
That goal took whatever wind was left out of the Hammers’ sails, their 60,000 seat stadium becoming noticeably vacant as supporters left in disgust.
West Ham would have their last best hope in the 72nd minute, as Nathan Redmond appeared to handle the ball in the penalty area. Referee John Moss didn’t see it that way, though, and booked Alvaro Arbeloa for dissent instead.
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As time wound down, Charlie Austin and Dusan Tadic would give way to Shane Long and James Ward-Prowse respectively. One last gasping shot by West Ham provoked a brilliant goal-line clearance to preserve Fraser Forster’s clean sheet, and from there it was all Southampton. Højbjerg and Ward-Prowse both had smashing shots at Adrian, but were denied as the Spanish keeper seemed for an instant to find his form.
It was into stoppage time when Ward-Prowse finally kicked on, scoring a rare goal from open play. A Redmond feed set up Steven Davis for a great shot that got deflected away, before Ward-Prowse turned home the second-chance shot to make it 3-0.
The final whistle was no doubt a mercy for West Ham, whose stadium was nearly deserted as bars of “Saints Go Marching” rang out from an impassioned away support with much to sing about.
For Claude Puel, Southampton’s fourth straight victory was an especially important one. Southampton now sit in 9th place, on 8 points with only lower-placed Watford and Burnley left to play this week. Speaking after the match, Puel hailed his squad’s recent form, saying he was “delighted” with the three goals.
“It was a very good second half…we created good chances with a lot of possibilities,” Puel said in his postgame remarks. “We scored three goals and didn’t take a goal against us.”
Charlie Austin, too, was beaming at his results; he currently leads Southampton in goals scored overall, having scored in four straight matches.
“It’s a massive result to come away to West Ham and win 3-0,” Austin said. “We’re delighted with the performance and we’ve got to keep this run going.”