Don’t look now, but Kevin Nolan and Sam Allardyce have West Ham United in the close to the hottest form in the Premier League, as the Hammers took care of Southampton by a 3-1 score.
Nolan scored an acrobatic insurance goal and provided a long ball assist on the go-ahead in the game.
Southampton jumped into the West Ham half straightaway and looked to have the Hammers off kilter.
And true-to-form the Saints struck, though it came from an unlikely finisher. Maya Yoshida rose to head in a free kick from Steven Davis deep in Hammers territory, giving him his first Premier League goal in his 40th Premier League appearance.
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West Ham’s next few moments found plenty of possession but little danger, but when the goal came in the 20th minute after Kevin Nolan tried a long ball over the top. Matt Jarvis, a hair offside, dashed to catch the ball on its second bounce and poked it under a sliding Artur Boruc.
And the Hammers doubled their advantage when the Saints shanks a clearing attempt comically, leading to Carlton Cole smashing as hard as he’d like from inside 12 yards. It was 2-1 the home side in the 23rd minute.
Gaston Ramirez subbed on for Southampton to decent effect, including a left footed curler that dipped after it cleared the bar.
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Adam Lallana has a brilliant chance to equalize but his foot-eye coordination betrayed him in the 69th minute. Yoshida almost found a second off a header in the 80th minute, but it was parried away for a corner.
West Ham found its third goal on 70 minutes, when Carlton Cole headed a cross into Nolan’s path that the chicken-dancing man basically bicycle-kicked home to make it 3-1 in favor of the Irons.
LINEUPS:
West Ham: Adrian, Demel, Tomkins, Collins, McCartney, Nolan (Reid, 73), Noble, Taylor, Downing, C.Cole, Jarvis (Diame, 57)
Goals: Jarvis (20), C. Cole (23), Nolan (71)
Southampton: Boruc, Chambers, Fonte, Yoshida, Shaw, Cork (Ramirez, 63), Schneiderlin, S. Davis (Ward-Prowse, 78), Lallana, Rodriguez, Lambert (Gallagher, 78)
Goals: Yoshida (8)
