BBC Online :
Felipe Anderson scored twice in six minutes as West Ham came from behind to beat Southampton by 2-1 goals at St Mary’s Stadium and move up to ninth in the Premier League table on Thursday.
After a quiet first half, the hosts took the lead in scrappy fashion through Nathan Redmond after Lukasz Fabianski had parried his initial effort.
But West Ham were only behind for three minutes before Anderson’s 20-yard low strike beat Alex McCarthy.
The third goal – all in nine minutes – came again from Anderson, who powerfully shot home after being released by Michail Antonio to put the Hammers ahead.
Southampton pushed for an equaliser, but Fabianski and the visiting defence held firm to secure West Ham their fifth win in six games.
For Manuel Pellegrini’s side to be in the top half of the table at the halfway point of the season is a remarkable achievement, considering they lost their opening four league matches and have been ravaged by injuries.
Manuel Lanzini, Winston Reid, Carlos Sanchez, Andriy Yarmolenko and Ryan Fredericks are all long-term absentees, with Jack Wilshere, Marko Arnautovic, Javier Hernandez, Fabian Balbuena and Pablo Zabaleta also unavailable.
The Hammers’ injury problems led to Pellegrini only naming six substitutes against Southampton and two of those – 21-year-old forward Xande Silva and 18-year-old midfielder Conor Coventry – had not featured in any Premier League match.
Despite that the visitors had the best opportunity of the opening half but Lucas Perez scuffed a shot wide after good work from overlapping full-back Aaron Cresswell, while Robert Snodgrass shot wide just before half-time.
Southampton took the lead in the 50th minute when a combination of Redmond and Angelo Ogbonna bundled the ball over the line, before two goals in six minutes from Anderson turned the game around.
It continues a fine December for Pellegrini’s team that has also seen them beat Newcastle, Cardiff, Crystal Palace and Fulham, with their only slip-up being their 2-0 home loss to Watford on Saturday.
They were 12th before the game, but the three points has lifted them above Bournemouth, Wolves and Watford and level on points with eighth-placed Everton.
Felipe Anderson scored twice in six minutes as West Ham came from behind to beat Southampton by 2-1 goals at St Mary’s Stadium and move up to ninth in the Premier League table on Thursday.
After a quiet first half, the hosts took the lead in scrappy fashion through Nathan Redmond after Lukasz Fabianski had parried his initial effort.
But West Ham were only behind for three minutes before Anderson’s 20-yard low strike beat Alex McCarthy.
The third goal – all in nine minutes – came again from Anderson, who powerfully shot home after being released by Michail Antonio to put the Hammers ahead.
Southampton pushed for an equaliser, but Fabianski and the visiting defence held firm to secure West Ham their fifth win in six games.
For Manuel Pellegrini’s side to be in the top half of the table at the halfway point of the season is a remarkable achievement, considering they lost their opening four league matches and have been ravaged by injuries.
Manuel Lanzini, Winston Reid, Carlos Sanchez, Andriy Yarmolenko and Ryan Fredericks are all long-term absentees, with Jack Wilshere, Marko Arnautovic, Javier Hernandez, Fabian Balbuena and Pablo Zabaleta also unavailable.
The Hammers’ injury problems led to Pellegrini only naming six substitutes against Southampton and two of those – 21-year-old forward Xande Silva and 18-year-old midfielder Conor Coventry – had not featured in any Premier League match.
Despite that the visitors had the best opportunity of the opening half but Lucas Perez scuffed a shot wide after good work from overlapping full-back Aaron Cresswell, while Robert Snodgrass shot wide just before half-time.
Southampton took the lead in the 50th minute when a combination of Redmond and Angelo Ogbonna bundled the ball over the line, before two goals in six minutes from Anderson turned the game around.
It continues a fine December for Pellegrini’s team that has also seen them beat Newcastle, Cardiff, Crystal Palace and Fulham, with their only slip-up being their 2-0 home loss to Watford on Saturday.
They were 12th before the game, but the three points has lifted them above Bournemouth, Wolves and Watford and level on points with eighth-placed Everton.
