WEST HAM sealed Europa League football next season as they capped their fine season with a win which set a club record for their best in the Premier League.
David Moyes and his side made sure it mattered not a bit what happened elsewhere as a Pablo Fornals quickfire double in the first-half ensured sixth place.
Victory, capped by a late Declan Rice strike, took them onto 65 points, better than the points tally Slaven Bilic’s side recorded back in 2016 which had previously been their best top flight performance.
It is no more than West Ham deserved after a campaign in which they banished to history – for the time being at least – the notion of being soft touches.
To turn a side from relegation strugglers to Champions League contenders has been some effort from Moyes, but also the players and European football next season will be fitting reward.
Worries about ensuring the squad depth is greater to cope with the increased demands will be for another day, for the time being West Ham can savour a job well done on and off the pitch.
The Hammers are rarely in a position where they are playing with a position to defend, but that was the case here as they began the match needing a point to guarantee sixth.
But with an expectant crowd turning up looking for a barnstorming display, for a while the Londoners stuttered over their lines.
Instead it was Southampton to jumped out of the blocks the better side as Moyes watched on anxiously as his players struggled to impose themselves on the game.
And had it not been a day marked for celebration by the home supporters, they may well have started to turn on the players as they were given the runaround for the opening quarter of the match.
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For Saints should really have been at least two goals to the good, only to let themselves down in front of goal.
The alarm bells were ringing when Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side launched a devastating counter attack which saw Stuart Armstrong set Takumi Minamino clean through – but though he lifted his effort past Lukasz Fabianski he also directed it just the wrong side of the post.
Then defender Kyle Walker-Peters had a hat-trick of chances to open the scoring as the visitors continued to catch West Ham out in defence.
The first was a shot well blocked, and the last a far post header which Fabianksi scrambled across to dive and save.
In the middle, though, Walker-Peters really should have scored as he nipped in behind the Hammers defence with just the keeper to beat, only for Fabianski to get enough on the shot to divert the ball past the post.
It wasn’t until the 24th minute that West Ham finally started to find the rhythm going forward, as Craig Dawson looped a header onto the roof of the net.
With a spring in their step they finally went on the front foot and within three minutes had delivered the goal the fans had been so keen to see.
Jarrod Bowen was the architect, inject pace with a direct run into the area before forcing Saints keeper Alex McCarthy into a low stop, but Fornals arrived from the left to slot his finish home.
The Spaniard’s attempts at a wild celebration fell flat when he slipped as he attempted to hoof the ball into the stands.
But he didn’t have long to wait for another celebration, for in the 33rd minute Fornals doubled West Ham’s lead.
The Saints defence was flat-footed to allow Vladimir Coufal time on the right to cross and Fornals worked himself space to shoot low into the bottom corner.
It was the kind of burst the Hammers have found numerous times this season which have ultimately led to this club-record season.
They still had a job to do though to see out the match, not least when you consider how fragile they have looked when defending seemingly insurmountable leads over the past couple of months.
So they were thankful early in the second half when Fabianski reacted sharply to tipped away a glancing header from Jan Bednarek which was heading for the top corner.
With little urgency needed to pour forward, the second half drifted along with little to excite the fans, though that was not going to stop them enjoying their day out.
Tomas Soucek came close to adding a third with 20 minutes left but for once the big Czech was unable to get his header for Bowen’s free-kick on target.
There was a brief moment when Saints thought they have pulled a goal back on 82 minutes when Nathan Tella rolled home, but late raising of the flag soon cut short any celebrations.
Four minutes from time West Ham finished the season off in style as Rice ran almost the length of the half, cutting into the area and shooting low into the goal to add a third.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
