Saints made it four wins in a row and did it in style as Claude Puel really started to make his mark on the way the side played.

For the first 40 minutes Saints were methodical, they were not exciting, they were not entertaining, but they looked solid and focused on doing the job needed.

Then with five minutes to the break and with West Ham for all their bluster unable to muster a decent effort on goal Saints went forward with intention, Ryan Bertran went forward pulled the ball back and there was Charlie Austin to fire home and give Saints a deserved lead if not on possession in attack, but the way they had cooly controlled the game.

In the second half apart from one 90 second spell where West Ham seemed to bombard our goal it was pretty much the one way traffic in terms of chances and when Tadic was played through by Austin he sidestepped the keeper sublimely and the lead was doubled.

Saints had plenty of chances to finish the game off in the last half hour, in truth they could have got six, but it was not poor finishing that cost them, but some inspired goalkeeping from Adrian and last ditch defending that kept West Ham in with a shout till injury time when Ward Prowse stroked home the third, by then the home fans had give up hope and most had left with virtually more Saints fans in the ground.

This was clinical by Saints, as I said not entertaining, but nor where Liverpool in the 80's, but a well drilled performance that made a mockery of those who said that the system was flawed and we lacked firepower, this was a team where they all knew there jobs and did what was asked.

The full backs were key to the task in hand, both Bertrand and Soares were superb, defensively they were tight, but going forward they destroyes the Hammers time and time again.

Claude Puel again picked the right team and made the right substitutions at the right time, those that said he was tactically naive and that the players could not play the season are now eating their words, yes it is still early days, but there is enough to suggest that this squad could achieve more than last season, especially when you take into account that it was a team missing Jay Rodriguez and new signing Sofiane Boufal.

It was a truly team performance though, no man played badly and no man could really be singled out as a clear man of the match, it was just methodical as the stats showed with West ham only having one shot on target out of 13 whilst Saints had 9 out of 18.

Things are looking up again, but then again it was always going to be about a little patience.

Photo: Action Images

Big_T added 23:44 - Sep 25 Great result today, If West Ham tried to play football instead of cheating, diving fouling and calling for every ball played into the box as a penalty they might not get relegated . My wife asked me what the hell do they mean by the West Ham Way ? I told her think of Leeds and you'll get the idea.
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perazi added 00:40 - Sep 26 Very satisfying result, with the second half display as good as anything we've produced this season. All players contributed - mid-field trio of Romeu, Hojbjerg and Davis were completely on their games with Hoj looking every inch the Morgan replacement we've missed and Romeu showing he can handle the Vic role very well with the bonus of a better passing game. Back 4 mostly excellent with both full backs getting forward and VVD and Fonte in charge with clearances and interceptions. I liked the way Puel has tweaked thing to have Austin spending more time in and around the box and Redmond tracking wider - Tadic's link up with both was exquisite as he completely put Payet in the shade. Special mention to JWP for getting the monkey of his back by scoring from open play.

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lemmsy added 07:13 - Sep 26 Almost perfect away performance . Very solid for the first 25 mins to quiet the home crowd & then qradually up our game culminating with Charlie's well worked goal. We gave the ball away a little too easy at times & imo soares & Redmond need to reAlise they can't score from crazy angles & look for the pass( this is not a rant just an observation ). Second half we were much more fluid & it genuinely could have been six. The one time West Ham did start to build a head of steam wedefended resolutely & I don't think Fraser actually had a save to make. So all in all great team performance that makes a mockery of the mugs who berated the manager after 2-3 games .i still think it will be a tough season when we face better opposition than the hammers but even including the arsenal game we have made the last five teams look ordinary .wemarchon

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IanRC added 08:24 - Sep 26 I think Oriel Romeu was superb. Picked up an early booking, which meant he had to be careful, but after that didn't really put a foot wrong. He even pulled out of the tackle when Zaza dived with the referee stood next to him. Was a bit concerned in the first half as to whether we could break them down and it was only when Bertrand went forward for the first time with intent that the game changed but all told a great team performance. Roll on Thursday.

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halftimeorange added 08:55 - Sep 26 I think that it is reasonable to suggest that Saints were helped by a West Ham team totally bereft of confidence (and in serious trouble). Austin's goal was key because, up to that moment, the first half had been the least entertaining of any EPL match I've seen this season - and correctly acknowledged as such by Claude Puel. There were some fine individual performances. I thought that Redmond and Van Dijk were outstanding. Steven Davis marred an otherwise energetic display by missing two good chances. As others have said, we have to convert more opportunities into goals or better teams will punish us. Adrian was good, yes but, he should have conceded at least twice more with more clinical finishing. That said, you can't really complain when your team has had a run like Saints have. Leicester will be an interesting test. They are beatable if only we can find that net!

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corkcitysaint added 09:04 - Sep 26 To be fair, it was a shocker of a match for the first 40 mins or so. Lots of possession but nothing happening at the end of it. Then a bit of inspired running by Bertrand and one shot / one goal from Austin. Just what you need in a striker in a tight game. After that, we moved up a gear and should have won by 5 or 6. Delighted we are now starting to keep clean sheets and you can see the confidence coming back into the players / our play. Yes, WH were poor (even JWP scored..) but you still have to go out and play your own game and win, which we did. It was a great "team" performance but stand outs for me were Bertrand and Hojbjerg. It's great to see us on a roll. Long may it continue! On a separate note, as we had been linked with Zaza in the transfer window, I'm glad nothing came of it.. Seems a bit of a moaner to me..

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sidsaint added 10:34 - Sep 26 Great all round performance with lovely attacking passing movements especially after we went 2 up when we really turned on the style. Just shows what confidence can do.
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GeordieSaint added 12:03 - Sep 26 Great performance, WHam were poor but Saints made them look poor through discipline and hard work. Outstanding displays throughout. Romeou was superb as were the defence, think we will get a lot of clean sheets this year and comforting to know the key players are on long term deals. Great to think we have a record signing to chuck in to the mix as well.
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deanosfc8 added 12:05 - Sep 26 The first 30-40mins was terrible from a spectators view but clever from Saints, because what we didn't want was the West Ham fans getting behind there team & giving there players a lift. You could hear there fans getting frustrated & that certainly filtered onto the pitch, then we went up a gear & the rest is history. As for the stadium.. very nice but you cant help feeling when you left the ground is thank god thats not us...

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schatfield added 12:38 - Sep 26 agree with most here, first half until the goal was painful to watch. 2nd half was lovely! Romeu was immense and puts Wanyama loss to bed now hopefully. Cant wait to see what our new record signing does when fit again.
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bstokesaint added 13:01 - Sep 26 One of your best summaries to date Nick, apart from the bit which excuses our sloppy finishing as inspired goalkeeping. To be fair the keeper shouldn't have been given a chance with 2-3 of those chances and against better teams we need to be more clinical. I also think our passing could go up a notch as there were still some silly mistakes in there. On the positive side we seem to be improving with every game and that second half (post Puel half-time team talk) was probably the best half of the season to date. It's good to know that the manager's new ways are finally taking shape and that we still have a record signing to throw into the mix.

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BoondockSaint added 14:45 - Sep 26 Just what we needed to boost confidence: a team with worst confidence than us! This is why Charlie should start every single game! He could have had another and Redmond as well! If their team mates would pass to the open man! (Hell, if Pep can get Sterling to do it, surely Claude can get our players to!). JWP's goal was just sloppy play from a team that has given up late in the game, so I still thing he needs to up his game (and hit the weight room!!) Hate to hear commentator pre-game saying Claude has his work cut out for him as the "Southampton model is to sell their top two players at the end of every season." No denying that, I just hate hearing it said out loud!

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davepid added 20:12 - Sep 26 If JWP goal was his first from open play then what other firsts are we due his season? Davis scoring a hat trick, Yos going a whole game without a fault or Cortesse admitting that Nicks been right about him all along, then its going to be a satisfying season. COYR
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SingaporeSaint added 02:12 - Sep 27 Agreed with much of above. Some excellent pass and move Football in the last 50 mins with the full backs giving great width. A sloppy start though and a different ref could easily have given them a pen and Romeu was also in danger of a second yellow. Once we got ahead though we looked excellent. Am also pleased that Bournemouth turned over Everton and showed Koeman isn't that great. Van Dyke MOM for me - there isnt a better centre half in this league. Bring on Leicester.

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