Julen Lopetegui He has continued to cling to the West Ham bench and, after seeing his continuity seriously jeopardized at the start of December, he now confirmed a clear improvement in results with a victory in his visit to bottom club Southampton in the traditional Boxing Day matchday (0- 1).
West Ham have a run of two wins and two draws in the last four rounds that briefly moved them 11 points clear of the relegation zone and moved them closer to mid-table.
Southampton, better start with Juric’s debut
West Ham triumphed in the first game where everything went wrong at St Mary’s Stadium. Southampton, in Ivan Juric’s debut on the bench, are far superior and ‘hammers’ are victims of forcing injuries Lopetegui replace the center first Maximilian Kilman, succeeded by Jean-Clar Todido in the 19th minute, and later on the goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, to whom he entered Alphonse Areola.
Fabianski gave a fright and was taken off on a stretcher
Pole had to be taken off on a stretcher after the collision in the center back Nathan Wood in a corner. He needed help breathing and was treated for eight agonizing minutes.
In these circumstances Lopetegui He took advantage of the break to relieve Edson Álvarez to bring on Carlos Soler and in this way the three windows of change are not exhausted.
Guido sees red but is corrected by the referee
The truth is that in the second half West Ham improved, although in the 53rd minute they had another scare when The referee first sent off Guido Rodríguez with a straight red card for a tackle on Kyle Walker-Peters, but, after Lopetegui’s complaints, VAR reviewed and corrected its decision only shows yellow in Argentine.
Despite so many surprises, West Ham opened the scoring before the hour mark in a strategy play, one of Lopetegui’s offensive resources. After a long game followed by a corner kick, Edson Alvarez focused on the past, Tomas Soucek went to the place, Niclas Füllkrug He also extended his head and Jarrod Bowen That time, he put his leg in to deflect the ball into the net. It was the fifth league goal for the ‘Hammer’ captain.
Southampton, who with Juric in the stands halted their losing streak with a 0-0 draw away to Fulham, dropped their level after the break, although in the final period they struck again in search of the equalizer.
In the end the attempts mainly to Paul Onuachu They failed to find a goal and Southampton suffered their seventh defeat in nine league games at home and remain anchored in last place with just 6 points, 8 points away from relegation.
match lineup
30
16
2
15
35
6
4
26
18
9
32
1
29
33
24
15
26
20
28
11
4
14
St. Mary’s Stadium
Lukasz Fabianski1
35′
60′
Aaron Wan-Bissaka29
85′
Emerson33
87′
28′
Guido Rodríguez24
50′
52′
67′
Konstantinos Mavropanos15
Maximilian Kilman26
18′
60′
Jarrod Bowen20
58′
86′
Tomas Soucek28
55′
72′
Niclas Füllkrug11
67′
72′
Carlos Soler4
45′
Mohammed Kudus14
Replacements
Alphonse Areola23
35′
85′
Aaron Cresswell3
67′
60′
Vladimir Coufal5
87′
60′
Jean-Clair Todibo25
18′
86′
Edson Alvarez19
45′
72′
Andy Irving39
Chrysencio Summerville7
67′
72′
Luis Guilherme17
Danny Ings18
coach
Ivan Juric
Julen Lopetegui
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
