West Ham managed
to cling on for a valuable point on a dismal afternoon at St. Mary’s Stadium.
The Irons started brightly with Mo
Diame looking in bullish mood as he powered his way into the box and was denied
by the outstretched Boruc early on. Chances though were few and far between for
the Hammers as Southampton enjoyed a majority of the possession and shots on
target. After a frenetic start, the game became affected by the howling wind
and lashing rain, causing the final ball to tend to go missing when it
mattered. It didn’t though when Osvaldo had the best chance of the game only to
be denied by the diving Jaaskeleinen.
West Ham did however have a
perfectly good goal disallowed for offside. Matt Jarvis made a rare break and
blasted the ball into Boruc’s midriff. The ball fell kindly to Nolan who
slotted it in from long range, only to see the linesman’s flag raised. Replay’s
showed Jarvis was indeed onside.
In the second half Southampton piled
on the pressure and once again it was the outstanding Jussi who kept us in the
game.
The Irons had a golden opportunity to
nick it at the end when the ball fell on a plate to James Collins who had all
the time in the world to pick his spot and clear off celebrating. True to form
however, he blazed the ball miles over the bar, much to the despair of the
traveling Claret and Blue Army.
On the whole a
poor game which lacked any real quality in the final third. Lots of crosses
were over hit and quality chances were few and far between. After a couple of
weeks of disappointment for Hammer’s fans, I suppose a point will do. Yet the
elephant in the room continues to rear its head, with Maiga once again being
ineffective and West Ham lacking any real cutting edge.
It was pleasing to see Big Sam give
Ravel his first premier league start however. The lad played well in a tricky
game dominated by the midfield.
So, 5 points from 4 games, a
pleasing defensive performance but deep concerns about our attacking options up
front.
Next week, we entertain Everton who
come to the Boleyn fresh from their victory over Mourinho’s Chelsea.
Jussi 10
Outstanding.
Kept us in the game
Demel 7
Played well –
went off injured
Winston Reid 7
Solid as usual
James Collins 6
Played well.
Missed a golden chance to win the game
Joey O’ Brien 6
Ok – could have
been sent off for a rash challenge
Mark Noble 6
Solid but
uninspiring
Ravel Morrison 6
Fine on his
Premier League debut
Mo Diame 6
Started well –
quietened down after a bad challenge
Kevin Nolan 5
Moaned and
groaned – not a lot of firepower
Matt Jarvis 6
Uncharacteristically
quiet
Maiga 4
Not cutting the
mustard at all
Razvan 5
Fair performance
Vaz Te 4
Largely
ineffective
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