West Ham United 1-0 Southampton: Nayef Aguerd goal helps Hammers win huge relegation scrap

West Ham United beat Southampton 1-0 to move out of the Premier League’s bottom three and leave Saints in huge trouble. The visitors arrived in London in reasonable form, buoyant after a comeback 3-3 draw against Tottenham in their last game, but their bubble burst in the capital. Ad Morocco defender Nayef Aguerd got the only goal of the game midway through the first half with an excellent header, but West Ham were forced to wait over three minutes for VAR to confirm the goal.

Premier LeagueConte launches explosive broadside at 'selfish' Tottenham players and owner18/03/2023 AT 19:14 Southampton’s Romain Perraud came close to an instant equaliser, but Lukasz Fabianski — somewhat controversially restored to the starting line-up at the expense of Alphonse Areola — got down athletically to push the shot wide. Saints enjoyed a handful of good spells but Fabianski was rarely in danger of conceding. Romeo Lavia shone again in Saints' midfield, brilliantly winning possession time and again, but he was largely alone in driving his team forward.

Victory takes West Ham up to 14th, and leaves Southampton bottom. Saints are three points behind 17th-placed Leeds but also have a vastly inferior goal difference and have also played more games than any other team in the bottom seven. Premier League table Premier League fixtures / results Premier League top scorers Talking point — West Ham *should* be fine This was yet another demonstration of what everyone already knew, West Ham are far too good to be relegated from the Premier League.

The Hammers’ individual quality is vastly superior to the other teams around them in the table. They have a quality goalkeeper, an excellent midfield, and solid attacking options. While this may seem like