A lead had been taken then lost when James Ward-Prowse picked out the centre-forward. Two-one, and a first win of the campaign was then secured. Not just West Ham United’s eventual 3-1 victory over Chelsea on Sunday but Southampton’s season-opening 2-1 triumph at Sheffield Wednesday 16 days earlier.
They were his 410th and last appearance for Saints and his first for the Hammers. If the cutback for Che Adams and the through ball for Michail Antonio illustrated a skillset that stretches beyond a Beckham-esque mastery of free kicks, Ward-Prowse’s presence on the Hillsborough and London Stadium pitches was instructive in itself. He carried on playing for Southampton after West Ham had first bid for him, when there was a widespread expectation he would go and when Romeo Lavia, in a similar situation amid interest from Liverpool and later Chelsea, was left as an unused substitute.
