Hammers sink Saints

Kanoute's double has brought precious time for Roeder

West Ham 2-0 Southampton
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Two goals by Frederic Kanoute consigned Southampton to defeat and eased the pressure on Hammers boss Glenn Roeder.

Booed off by their own fans at half-time, West Ham took three well-deserved points.

  Upton Park goals

53 mins: Kanoute heads home first goal

81 mins: Kanoute's second makes it safe for Hammers

They also kept their third consecutive clean sheet at home in the Premiership after shipping 12 goals in their last two away games.

The first goal came in the 53rd minute, courtesy of Nigel Winterburn's strong run down the left.

His deep cross found Kanoute, and the French striker headed past Paul Jones in the Saints goal from six yards out.

I asked the players to show some bottle - a good old fashioned East London word.

Hammers boss
Glenn Roeder

Another Kanoute header secured victory in the 81st minute.

The scorer should have been Paolo di Canio, but his clever dink over Jones from five yards out hit the bar.

However, Kanoute was on hand to nod home the rebound.

Nervous

His first goal had boosted the home side's confidence, and the Upton Park crowd got behind them for the remainder of the game.

But the Hammers still looked nervous when defending Southampton's set-pieces, with Wayne Bridge consistently delivering the ball into dangerous areas.

Delap pushed up as Saints sought a goal

Di Canio's crosses caused plenty of problems for the visitors, and Laurent Courtois impressed on the left.

Southampton had started brightly, and Delap's shot from 25 yards on three minutes was well held by Hislop.

West Ham had more possession and the better chances in the first period but lacked confidence.

Saints keeper Jones tipped a six-yard effort from Kanoute round his post in the sixth minute.

He was forced to repeat the save three minutes later when Courtois shot from the same distance.

Chasing

Don Hutchison, always a threat for West Ham, saw his 25-yarder fly just over Jones' bar in the 24th minute.

We have a batch of games coming up against teams in our mini-league and we need to start picking up points

Saints boss Stuart Gray

Mark Draper, making his first start of the season for Saints, was booked four minutes later for a foul on the Scottish international.

Southampton, with four away wins this season but none at home, again started well in the second half.

But once Kanoute had put the Hammers ahead, they were left chasing the game.

Manager Stuart Gray brought on winger Stuart Ripley and pushed Rory Delap up front as they sought an equaliser.

But West Ham, prompted by di Canio and Hutchison, exploited the space and underlined their overall superiority with Kanoute's second.

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West Ham: Hislop, Schemmel, Repka, Dailly, Winterburn, Sinclair, Carrick, Hutchison, Courtois, Di Canio, Kanoute. Subs: Bywater, Foxe, Moncur, Defoe, Kitson.

Southampton: Jones, Dodd, Lundekvam, El Khalej, Bridge, Davies, Marsden, Draper, Delap, Pahars, Beattie. Subs: Moss, Svensson, Ripley, Petrescu, Monk.

Referee: N Barry (Scunthorpe)

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