West Ham United came from behind to earn a point against Southampton on Sunday afternoon in a 1-1 draw at St Mary’s.
Romain Perraud opened the scoring at St Mary’s with a deflected long-range strike in the first half. Declan Rice levelled the game after the break with an excellent shot from distance, his first goal in 12 months in the Premier League.
With West Ham yet to taste defeat in any of their five matches in all competitions since last month’s international break came to an end, here are five of the major talking points from the top-flight clash in Hampshire.
READ MORE: David Moyes hits out at VAR official over Southampton’s goal and penalty claim in West Ham draw
Fighting back for a point
Starting with a five at the back formation, enforced by injuries, West Ham became an incredibly deflated side in the first half following Perraud’s opener, with heroics from goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski required to keep David Moyes’ side in the tie.
While Emerson, Gianluca Scamacca and Lucas Paqueta all had first half chances, none of the Hammers’ ten first half shots found the target, with all of their early efforts going wide or over.
It took until the second half for a long-range Paqueta volley to force Gavin Bazunu into a save, with West Ham seeming to go on a run and a flurry of momentum soon after, helped by the introduction of Said Benrahma in place of Emerson just before the hour mark and five minutes before Rice’s equaliser.
After that wonder goal, a strike exhibiting Rice’s qualities from long range, West Ham went on a real run of momentum, with Scamacca going close to making it 2-1, forcing Bazunu into a great stop.
Given the recent form the side have been in, injuries and the hectic nature of the Hammers’ schedule, a point on the road is a good result, especially with four of the club’s five centre-backs not being available for selection.
Said Benrahma’s effect
There was a sense of deja vu watching the game, with there being quite a few similarities to the side that won 1-0 away at Aston Villa back in August.
In both games, Moyes started with a three-at-the back but to little effect. At Villa, it was 0-0 at half-time before Benrahma replaced Emerson on his first start for the Hammers, with West Ham changing from a 3-4-2-1 to a 4-2-3-1. Against Saints, it was a similar outcome, although this time, Benrahma’s introduction came in the 59th minute and with the Hammers 1-0 down, although it did not stay that way for long.
His introduction added more balance to the side, although in fairness, Moyes’ options in team selection were limited due to the defensive issues at bay, with Kurt Zouma (illness), Craig Dawson (dead leg) and Nayef Aguerd (ankle) all absent, while Angelo Ogbonna (hamstring) was only deemed fit enough for the bench.
Benrahma’s arrival was a game-changing one. Within five minutes, Rice had equalised, with Benrahma heavily involved in the move, carrying the ball down the left, holding it, linking up with Aaron Cresswell before exchanging with Rice prior to his equalising goal.
The former Brentford man injected pace into the side, but more importantly, allowed Moyes to go back to 4-2-3-1, his trusty formation that clearly seems to get the best out of his players, a risk however with it leading to a centre-back pairing of Ben Johnson and Thilo Kehrer.
The left wing spot in the team is definitely up the grabs. Maxwel Cornet had limited chances before suffering a calf injury and Pablo Fornals was an unused substitute in the draw with Southampton. Benrahma will hope that his display will have earned him a start away at Liverpool on Wednesday night.
David Moyes’ frustrations
In his post-match press conference, Moyes aired his frustrations over two major incidents, stating that VAR official Simon Hooper “should go to Specsavers.”
The main talking point from the game was the build-up to Saints’ opening goal. When attempting to clear a long throw-in from Kyle Walker-Peters, Tomas Soucek did not get a good connection on his clearance and as Jarrod Bowen went follow it up, referee Peter Bankes was stood in his way, with Bowen unable to get back, Perraud shooting and scoring, via a deflection.
Moyes was livid that the goal was not disallowed and was further incensed when he felt Soucek should have had a penalty after being grappled in the penalty area at a corner by Perraud, with Moyes labelling the incident as a judo move.
Both decisions went in favour of the hosts, much to Moyes’ frustrations, perhaps the luck being balanced out somewhat, with there being serious question marks over all three of West Ham’s goal in their win over Fulham last weekend.
Double injury blow
A major blow came before a ball had been kicked at 1pm when it was confirmed that both Zouma and Dawson were absent.
Although it is unlikely that either of them are set for long periods on the sidelines, missing both of them at the same time is a massive blow, with their rekindled partnership this month leading to wins over Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham this month, the only two games they have started together all season.
With Nayef Aguerd (ankle) still sidelined after a pre-season injury, Dawson and Zouma doubts for the midweek trip to Liverpool and Angelo Ogbonna suffering a hamstring issue, numbers are really short at centre-back at present.
It is the same issue Moyes had at the start of the season before signing Kehrer. Dawson and Ogbonna were sidelined and Issa Diop was on his way out of the club, leaving Zouma as the only available centre-back for the opening games of the season prior to Kehrer’s arrival.
Lukasz Fabianski’s importance
While decisions went against West Ham, they have an awful lot to thank goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski for, who really kept the Hammers from going behind by a few goals in the first half.
The Polish stopper made seven saves in the game, six of those before half-time, with West Ham really struggling to deal with Saints’ attacking qualities after going a goal down in the first half.
There was absolutely nothing Fabianski could have done to have stopped Perraud’s goal after a wild deflection off Ben Johnson took it beyond his reach, with the Polish stopper putting in an impressive display in Hampshire.
Fabianski’s total of 25 saves from ten league games has averaged out at 2.5 saves per games so far this term, although over a quarter of his saves for the season so far came on Sunday at Southampton, and credit to the 37-year-old for his vital contributions in keeping West Ham in the game.
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