West Ham 4 Southampton 1

The Hammers took all three points on offer yesterday with a second half demolition of Southampton.

However it has to be said that the first half was something of a torrid affair that could possibly be summed up perfectly by Sam Allardyce who quoted, after the game,

"I`m surprised we won 4-1 after that performance. We had to take a long, hard look at ourselves at the interval and I was delighted with the response."

Yes, it wasn`t pretty and if anyone dallied over their half time beverages they`d have missed the two goal blast, early on in the second half that set the tone for the result.

The first goal, in the forty-sixth minute, came when Noble took a free-kick some thirty-five yards out and his free kick drifted past everybody, including the Southampton keeper, Boruc, to nestle in the far corner.

Second later, the lead was doubled when Benayoun, back in our famous claret and blue, broke down the right and his skill engineered a ball in that saw Nolan finish at the far post.

Southampton gave their travelling support brief hope when Lallana scored a fine goal, spinning onto a ball from Rodriguez and firing it into the roof of the net..

But any worries about Southampton getting back into the game lasted a mere eight minutes when Noble scored from the penalty spot after Fonte had handled the ball in the penalty area.

The icing on the cake, for Hammers supporters, came in the eighty-seventh minute when Maiga, on as a late substitute for Carroll, showed his power and class by skimming through a static Southampton defence to drill a shot into the net.

It turned out well in the end didn`t it!

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