Anderson double gives West Ham EPL win over Southampton

A superb brace by Felipe Anderson gave West Ham United a 2-1 comeback win at Southampton in a pulsating EPL match.

West Ham midfielder Felipe Anderson after scoring against Southampton

A superb brace by Felipe Anderson gave West Ham United a 2-1 comeback win at Southampton in a pulsating English Premier League match.

The result lifted West Ham to ninth in the table on 27 points from 19 games while Southampton stayed 16th on 15 points, three above the relegation zone after suffering their first home defeat in five matches.

West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini was delighted to see his team in the top half of the standings midway through the campaign after starting with four defeats.

“All the credit (to the players),” he told the BBC.

“We played a very good game from the first minute to win it and we were very balanced. We worked mostly in the opposition half and we defended very well.

“December has been a good month for the team, not just for me, for the team. I think one of the most important things is that we play the same way away as at home.”

The game sprung to life when Southampton forward Nathan Redmond bundled the ball home with his shoulder in the 50th minute after visiting keeper Lukazs Fabianski parried his initial shot and Oriol Romeu’s rebound.

In the absence of first-choice strikers Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez, West Ham lacked cutting edge until Brazilian midfielder Anderson turned the match on its head.

Anderson equalised in the 53rd minute with a stinging first-time shot from 20 metres and completed West Ham’s comeback in the 59th when he buried the ball into the top right corner from 13 metres to cap a lightning break by the visitors.

Fabianski had kept out a long-range effort by forward Stuart Armstrong at the other end and marshalled his defence superbly in the closing stages as the Saints threw men forward in search of an equaliser.

The West Ham keeper clawed out Mario Lemina’s shot while livewire Anderson twice went close for West Ham in a seesaw last 15 minutes, with Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl left to rue a missed chance to steer clear of the bottom three.

“If you give it away like we did then you don’t deserve to (win),” said Hasenhuttl.

“We were not so fresh and not so speedy, sharp to win the second balls. The way we lost today was too easy.”

Meanwhile, Arsenal manager Unai Emery has been charged with improper conduct by the English Football Association after he kicked a bottle at a Brighton & Hove Albion supporter.

The Spanish coach immediately apologised to the fan after the incident, which happened during the closing moments of Arsenal’s 1-1 English Premier League draw at Brighton’s Amex Stadium on Wednesday.

Emery said he hoped the his swift apology would be enough to avoid a potential touchline ban.

“I kicked it for me and it went near the supporters. I said my apologies, I repeat my apologies again,” he said. “I kicked it because it is near me and not because of this intention.”

When asked if he expects to be punished retrospectively by the FA, Emery said he hoped not.

“It’s not to do with the action but the circumstance. I hope the apology is the end to the matter.”

Emery has until January 2 to respond to the charge.

Agencies