Strange draw for West Ham: Coufal grabbed the goal, Antonio saw red, King waits for his debut

West Ham remain unbeaten after the fourth round. At Southampton’s ground they gave probably their weakest performance of the season, yet it was enough for a goalless draw. Alex King will have to wait for his debut.

Adam Armstrong fired home in the third minute, but Lukasz Fabianski made the save. The game settled down after that and the next chance came twenty minutes later when a nice attempt by Moussa Djenep was saved by Craig Dawson.

The Hammers did not respond until the 32nd minute when Jarrod Bowen’s shot was knocked down by the home defence for a corner. An active Djenepo tried again in the 37th minute, but couldn’t get a shot between the three posts. That was the last chance of an uninspiring first half and the game was scoreless.

Mikhail Antonio was active in the second half, the best Premier League player for the month of August put Alex McCarthy through in the 47th minute. Eight minutes later, Tomas Soucek headed home a shot, but his shot was stopped by Angelo Ogbonna and did not threaten the goalkeeper.

The more active West Ham went for the first goal, in the 66th minute after Vladimir Coufal’s centre Bowen headed sharply, but not on target, because McCarthy intervened. But the Saints also wanted the three points, with Armando Broja hitting the back post in the 82nd minute.

Moments later, Coufal grabbed a goal when he knocked down Mohamed Elyounoussi’s shot for a corner kick. In stoppage time, Declan Rice still kicked the ball off the goal line, Antonio saw a red card for a harsh foul, but no more goals were scored. The points were shared after a 0-0 draw.

Source: Premier League