19 April 2025
West Ham 1 Southampton 1
Football fans have a very short temper when it comes to underperforming teams. Nowhere is this truer than at West Ham. They had demanded that the man who won a European trophy for the club was moved on, before his replacement lasted less than six months. Now Graham Potter was in the firing line and the murmurs of discontent were rumbling once again.
The last time The Hammers were this low in the table, they were relegated. All they had to thank for that piece of history not repeating itself, was the massive gulf between the Premier League and the Championship. The sides who came up this season were almost resigned to their fate and there is no danger of West Ham suffering that pain of relegation again this campaign.
Ironically, they welcomed Southampton to the London Stadium. The Saints had looked so far out of their depth, no lifeguard in the world would have let this happen on their watch and would have been dragging them out probably at some time in November or December. This had been a harsh lesson of the levels required in the top-flight now for the south coast club.
Now their destiny had been mathematically confirmed, you felt they could now play with an air of freedom. No longer do they have to concern themselves with their opponents so much and can try to play the football that saw them surprise many as they beat Leeds in the playoff final. While it would infuriate their fans to see them go on a run of form now, they still crave it after what they have had to endure all season.
Potter’s side looked to get at them early on and Fullkrug met a cross at the near post to send it goalwards. Ramsdale got down to make a good block to keep his side on level terms. The keeper had been busier than an A&E nurse most Saturdays now. All too often it was down to him to keep his side in games that they should be dead and buried in.
Since the new manager was appointed in the capital, the team have actually dropped three places in the table. The Saints almost opened the scoring against the run of play when Walker-Peters had space to get a shot off in the box. Sadly for the full-back, he dragged it wide with the goal at his mercy. However, it gave the visitors some confidence.
They continued to attack and Sulemana did well to react quickly to get a shot off in the middle of the penalty area. Areola was beaten and gladder than anyone else to see the effort come back off the crossbar. There were boos ringing out from the home enclosures, not happy to see their team being played off the park by the worst team in the league.
The sides went in all-square at the interval. The Hammers started to try and get into pockets of space and Fullkrug played it into the path of Bowen. He cut inside onto his left foot and curled a shot past Ramsdale into the far corner. The hosts were finally ahead and how they have missed the goals of Bowen keeping them afloat most weeks.
It was a muted celebration from the home fans, almost as if they were unhappy that it had taken this long for their team to get their noses in front. Over the course of the season, we have seen that often the first goal is all that is needed to cause The Saints to completely fold. Now The Hammers fans wanted to see a deluge of goals.
West Ham continued to try and pile the pressure on the visitors. They just seemed to be lacking that killer-pass in the final third. As a corner was swung in by Ward-Prowse, Fullkrug rose at the back post and seemed to bundle it over the line. The replay showed that he had impeded Ramsdale, causing him the drop the ball as he tried to catch it and it was swiftly ruled out.
Southampton’s caretaker managers stood on the touchline pondering how they could get something from this game. Their prayers were almost answered as Stephens drilled a volley from the edge of the box towards the far corner of the goal. Areola got down well to make a good save to keep his side’s slender lead intact.
As the hosts came forward, Fullkrug played Guilherme in. The substitute had a clear sight of goal but his effort was too close to the keeper and Ramsdale made a good block. The Saints went straight down the other end and the ball dropped to Dibling six yards out, with the goal at his mercy. Somehow, he got his effort all wrong as he sent it sailing over the crossbar.
Deep into added time, Walker-Peters tried to get a shot away in the box but it was well blocked. The loose ball broke to Ugochukwu who volley past Areola to silence the London Stadium. The Saints had shown some grit to get themselves back into this game and to keep going until the final whistle. This point may be just the sort of pick me up they need at the moment.
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