Three goals in 34 minutes leave West Ham chasing all afternoon, and Soucek's stoppage-time reply comes too late
By Our Special Correspondent
Some of the 62,250 inside the London Stadium were still finding their seats when Kuryu Matsuki slotted into the far corner. Two minutes gone, one-nil Southampton, and the tone was set.
By the 11th minute it was two. James Bree, a full-back with no business being where he was, scored from the tightest of angles, and West Ham's afternoon already looked like an uphill climb.
Walker-Peters lights the fuse
To their credit, the hosts answered. On 24 minutes Divine Mukasa found Kyle Walker-Peters, and he placed the ball into the top corner. For ten minutes the ground found its voice.
Then it went quiet again. Lewis Dobbin struck from close range on 34 minutes, and Southampton went in at the break 3-1 up, with the points already in their pockets.
All the ball, none of the reward
West Ham threw everything at the second half. They had 56 per cent of the ball and 28 shots, 11 of them on target, and Tomas Soucek, Pablo, Piroe and Austbo all came off the bench to try to turn it. Southampton bent but would not break, with Daniel Peretz behind a back four that defended the lead with plenty of grit.
The reply came in the third minute of stoppage time, when Soucek turned in Valentín Castellanos's pass. It made the scoreline respectable, but no more than that.
Southampton managed only 15 shots of their own, but three of them went in when it mattered. They had won the game in the first 34 minutes, and West Ham spent the rest of the afternoon finding that out.
CHAMPIONSHIP