Report

IBO Reporter: Spot51

|Prime’s pitchside pundits were Carlton Cole (boo!) and Kevin Davis (hoorah!) The guy on the gantry with the commentator was Nigel Spackman who I often hear covering continental matches and talks more sense than most.

West Ham, all in black, kicked off towards the Archers and played the ball around at the back for a bit, then Soler sent a diagonal ball through to Bowen who fired over on 20s. That was easier than cutting through the festive Stilton FFS!

Their next attack saw Wood take out Kudus on the edge of our box. Matty was the designated draught excluder but Emerson’s strike could not get over Small Paul. We launched a brief counter down the right but Suga could not find a teammate and backswept the black tide. Wan Bissaka picked out Soler who smashed another shot off the crossbar before one of ours blocked a follow-up from Rodriguez before we finally cleared our lines. Phew! Still 0-0 at least.

Saints gradually worked their way into the game and our first good chance arrived on 10m when Suga’s deep cross was volleyed back by KWP, but Paul stuck his header just wide. The game now ebbed and flowed with both Bowen and Ugo having shots blocked until play was stopped when Kilman went down injured. Both sides congregated around their benches as the defender was treated.

He limped off but soon asked to be let back on. Saints had another good chance when Matty met AA’s cross but stuck his header right at Fabianski. Whatever was troubling Kilman could not be “run off” so on 19m he was replaced by Tobido.

A decent football match had broken out as the two sides sparred for advantage. A nice Saints move saw Ugo find KWP who drew a good save from Fab before Rodriguez set up the predatory Bowen but Rammy watched it flash wide of his post.

KWP was clearly trying to impress the new gaffer cos he was everywhere. On 25m he sent over another decent cross. Paul was backpedalling but still got good height and power on his header and drew an acrobatic save from Fab.

There was an exchange of fouls in midfield before the next Saints attack saw Bowen, tracking back with KWP, concede a corner. The ball came in from the left to the back post where the keeper punched it away. We didn’t see replays as Fabianski was caught by Wood’s arm as he rose with the keeper before crashing to the ground. Medics were quickly on as Wood was shown a yellow card.

There was a delay of several minutes before the keeper was stretchered off to polite applause from the Boxing Day crowd. WHU sent on Areola as a concussion substitute. One thing that left a sour taste in the mouth was Lopetegui trying to get Wood sent off. What a lowlife arsehole!

After the restart, the game lost some impetus and play was interrupted by a series of fouls. On 43m the next chance fell to Sugawara, set up by Matty but blocked by a blackshirt. Saints recovered the ball but Downes’ follow-up sailed both high and wide. At the other end, Wan B collected a pass from Kudus but shot wide. 10m were added for the various stoppages.

KWP met a cross from Suga but Areola saved his header. Up the other end, Rammy saved a low shot from Kudus. Both sides were trying to go in ahead and Matty’s beautiful cross found Paul. This time his header beat the keeper but not Todibo who turned it out for a corner. From the corner, Matty picked out Wood at the far post but his header flew wide.

Saints also had the final chance of the half. Another great ball from the right by Suga found Paul but, again, he put his header right into the keeper’s gloves. It was a well contested half but after 55m it was still 0-0.

There was good news about Fabianski who was still under observation in the stadium and had not been rushed to hospital.

West Ham made a 3rd change at halftime with Alvarez replacing Soler in midfield. The first big moment of the half came when Rodriguez brought down KWP and was shown a red card. Replays suggested he did go in with both feet but neither left the ground and his feet did slip on the turf. VAR required the Ref to have another look, after which the card was downgraded to yellow. Probably the correct decision but another illustration of how arbitrary VAR can be. They have let some right shitty decisions stand when Saints were involved.

5m later, he was joined in the book by Soucek who’d been beaten by THB so kicked him. They were just dialling up the pressure a bit as the hour approached. Ramsdale needed to get to an Alvarez effort from Wan Bissaka’s cross. They then came down the left and Suga conceded a corner.

Alvarez sent the corner towards Fullkrug but a Saints head sent it back to where it came from. West Ham manoeuvred the ball towards the other flank where Soucek clipped it back towards the near post. Our backline had got out and Suga, at the back post, could not affect the play. Sadly, he dropped back onto the goal line playing Bowen (who scored from close range) and maybe Fullkrug (who knocked it into the scorer’s path) onside. Shite! 0-1.

Much has been written about chaos at West Ham this season. As well as changing the coach there was a player churn of 19 in or out giving their starting XI a very different look. This is what middle-ranked EPL sides can do. The arrivals are top players as they get picked but it also sees experienced players like Coufal and Cresswell able to come off the bench and affect the game.

This is exactly what happened. West Ham went into “game management mode” and dared us to try and equalise. Saints replaced Suga and Downes with Bree and Aribo.

We continued to get forward and on 55m Matty created a decent chance for AA which he missed. West Ham were happy (and effective) playing on the break and both Bowen and Kudus had efforts blocked bedfore Wan Bissaka shot wide.

On 68m they put on Cresswell and Summerville for Rodriguez and Fullkrug, moving to a 3-4-3 with pace in all 3 forward positions. It was like Lopetegui had Ivan by the balls and was starting to squeeze them.

KWP and Fernandes were still our most productive players. The former played a lovely ball into the latter but the shot went just wide. Bowen then sent Summerville haring down the left before cutting in and shooting. Rammy dived but kept his gloves away from the ball which carried on beyond the far post and out.

I was hoping to see Archer come on to get close to Paul but our next changes saw AA and Matty hooked and Sully and Dibling sent on. WTF? West Ham continued to threaten with Kudus next to try his luck but not troubling Rammy.

On 78m with Bree up the wing, THB came over to stop Summerville and fouled him. It was a long way out but Cresswell called for the big guys to get forward. He lofted the ball into our box where the not-that-tall Bowen should have bagged his second. Instead, he sent his header just past the top corner with Rammy rooted.

The concussion substitution allowed Saints to make 6 changes which they did when Lallana and Manning replaced Ugo and KWP. West Ham sent on Coufal for Emerson.

As often happens when Lallana comes on, we looked better in the final minutes. Two good chances were made and both fell to Small Paul. The first came from a knockdown by THB which he hit with his right foot and just went wide. In the last minute Adam sent in a peach of a cross but the big man’s header was also off target.

In +7m Todibo had one of those (not real) injuries to run down the clock. Saints, to their credit, never gave up. First Bree played in Dibling but his shot went high and then Manning sent in two delicious crosses which Paul met: the first was blocked away and the next went just wide - again.

On 98m the Ref called a halt and West Ham extended their run to 4 unbeaten. Saints had competed throughout, yet the difference in both quality and nous was plain to see. The gap between Championship and EPL extends every season and the resources available to the likes of WHU are miles ahead of what we can deploy.

A while back I made the comparison of Russ being expected to play tennis with a ping pong bat. That problem no longer bothers the Buddhist, but I’m not sure Ivan can do much better with the same meagre resources.

Man Of The Match

Nobody had a stinker but 3 players were a cut above. KWP had one of his best games on the left and can be happy with his work. There is no way he will be with us next season which is a shame but he will walk.

Mateus Fernandes is a pearl and, thankfully, on a long contract. He is a player to build a team around and will only improve.

However, for his overall effort and to keep getting into scoring positions, I’m nominating Paul Onuachu for MoM. I like this guy and Ivan seems to as well. Please can we see him paired with Cam Archer before it is too late? A big ’un and a little ’un used to work BITD and, TBF, Saints need to try anything to increase goals scored.