West Ham move out of drop zone with win over Southampton

LONDON: West Ham United beat Southampton 1-0 on Sunday (Apr 2) after Nayef Aguerd scored from a set piece in the first half to give the London side breathing room in the Premier League relegation battle.

The teams were 19th and 20th in the standings before kickoff but victory moved West Ham up to 14th (27 points) while Southampton remained rooted to the bottom, three points from the safety zone.

Southampton dominated in stages but lacked creativity and a cutting edge, however, as West Ham - who have a game in hand over their relegation rivals - moved up five places and provide welcome relief for their manager David Moyes.

"I'm really pleased it has gotten us out of the bottom three," Moyes told Sky Sports.

"We find ourselves playing catch-up (because we play Thursdays and Sundays) but also we're two games behind in the Premier League fixtures, so we're all a bit behind.

"I feel that the crowd and players were anxious because we're trying to catch up. We don't feel we should be in this position but we are. Thank goodness we won the three points today to move us up a bit."

West Ham took the lead in the 25th minute when Aguerd rose highest to head home a free kick but they had an agonising wait as VAR took several minutes to check if the Moroccan defender was onside before awarding the goal.

The away side had more possession but the goal lit a spark in West Ham and Jarrod Bowen nearly doubled the lead on a counter-attack before halftime when his shot beat the keeper but came off the crossbar.

At the other end, Lukasz Fabianski was tested several times by Southampton but the Polish goalkeeper was up to the task, making calm saves to keep a clean sheet, although Nigerian forward Paul Onuachu's late header struck his crossbar.

"We felt