Southampton 1-3 West Ham: Obiang bangs a goal and assist for Hammers comeback win

It was a quality comeback victory for West Ham on the road Saturday, as they defeated Southampton 3-1 at St. Mary’s Stadium.

The Hammers, who suffered one of their worst defeats this season to the Saints 3-0 at the London Stadium in September, recovered from a 1-0 deficit behind a fine goal and assist display from midfielder Pedro Obiang.

The afternoon didn’t start so promising for the Hammers, when Saints debutante Manolo Gabbiadini gave his new side the first lead of the game with a great finish in the 12th minute. The Italian International just stayed onside as he turned Jay Rodriguez’s perfectly timed pass into an assist.

But West Ham hit back just two minutes later to even the match, when Obiang delivered a perfectly weighted pass to Andy Carroll for the star forward to clinically slide the ball by Fraser Forster. The Spanish midfielder would then provide a fine moment for himself and continue the former Sampdoria stars’ takeover of the contest (Obiang and Gabbiadini played at the Serie A club from 2013 to 2015) with a terrific low shot past Forster in the 44th minute. It was Obiang’s first goal in Irons’ colors, and it made Winston Reid quite happy to pick him up.

The second half saw Mark Noble adding a third for his side, as his wicked free kick was too much for Steven Davis to control, ending in the Northern Ireland midfielder to deflect into his own net. Originally ruled a Davis own goal, the official scorers decided to give Noble the tally later on in the second half.

West Ham will hope they can remain in the top half of the table for the rest of the season after this positive result. And they can continue that wish when they face a difficult Tony Pulis lead West Brom side in “the battle of the two Wests” at home next Saturday.