Southampton 0-1 West Ham: Bowen spoils Juric´s bow

Ivan Juric’s first Premier League match in charge of Southampton ended in disappointment as Jarrod Bowen secured a 1-0 win for West Ham at St Mary’s.

Southampton had the better of the chances in the first half despite a bright West Ham start, with Paul Onuachu guilty of missing a host of opportunities and West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski making a number of crucial saves before he was forced off with a serious-looking head injury after a collision with Nathan Wood.

Juric’s team thought they would have a numerical advantage when Guido Rodriguez was shown a red card for a challenge on Kyle Walker-Peters early in the first half, but referee Lewis Smith downgraded it to a booking following a VAR review.

The deadlock was broken just before the hour – Bowen poking home from close range after latching onto Niclas Fullkrug’s flick-on.

The three points are coming back to east London pic.twitter.com/LM8ribCXBU

— West Ham United (@WestHam) December 26, 2024

Onuachu and Tyler Dibling passed up presentable chances late on as West Ham made it four league games unbeaten and moved above Manchester United into 13th, while Southampton remain bottom.

Data Debrief: Hammers on the march but Saints need points

Despite Julen Lopetegui being under pressure at points this season, this win means his side are now unbeaten in their last four Premier League matches, which is their best run since February and March of this year.

Bowen came up with the good when it mattered, stealing a march on his marker to turn in. He has now scored 48 Premier League goals for West Ham, who he joined from Hull City in January 2020. He needs 20 more goals to catch team-mate Michail Antonio, who is the only West Ham player to net over 50 goals in the competition.

Juric, meanwhile, has taken over a side that now rivals the worst in Premier League history in terms of their opening 18 league games – only Sheffield United (five) in the 2020-21 season managed to accumulate fewer points than Southampton (six), who are level with the Sunderland side of 2005-06. Both the Blades and Black Cats finished rock bottom in those campaigns.