Southampton lost for the sixth time in seven league matches as they were bested 3-1 by West Ham at St.Mary’s.
This loss comes after defeats to Burnley, Tottenham, West Brom, Everton and Swansea in their last seven matches – with a win against Leicester being a flash in the pan.
It was the home side who made the perfect start, though, as debut striker Manolo Gabbiadini smashed in a wonderful goal on 12 minutes to hand them the lead.
However, it took West Ham two minutes to respond. Andy Carroll was sent clean through and he slotted the ball past Fraser Forster.
West Ham then took the lead late in the first half when Kouyate’s low drive from 30-yards somehow managed to find a way past Forster, who was slow to get down.
The win was then sealed when Mark Noble’s free-kick early in the second half was diverted into his own net by Saints captain Steven Davis.
Picking a man of the match has been easy as there was only one man it could have been; Manolo Gabbiadini.
On his debut, he scored a top-class goal and showed that he is able to deal with the physical nature of the English game against a very strong West Ham defence.
Very promising signs from the deadline day signing from Napoli. He’ll be looking to continue his good form in the coming weeks.
