Jarrod Bowen celebrates his winner at Southampton. Jarrod Bowen celebrates his winner at Southampton.

Ivan Juricgold99’s first Premier League match in charge of Southampton ended in disappointment as Jarrod Bowen secured a 1-0 win for West Ham at St Mary’s. (More Football News)gold99

Southampton had the better of the chances in the first half despite a bright West Ham start, with Paul Onuachu guilty of missing a host of opportunities and West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski making a number of crucial saves before he was forced off with a serious-looking head injury after a collision with Nathan Wood.

Juric’s team thought they would have a numerical advantage when Guido Rodriguez was shown a red card for a challenge on Kyle Walker-Peters early in the first half, but referee Lewis Smith downgraded it to a booking following a VAR review.

The deadlock was broken just before the hour – Bowen poking home from close range after latching onto Niclas Fullkrug’s flick-on.

The three points are coming back to east London pic.twitter.com/LM8ribCXBU

— West Ham United (@WestHam) December 26, 2024

Onuachu and Tyler Dibling passed up presentable chances late on as West Ham made it four league games unbeaten and moved above Manchester United into 13th, while Southampton remain bottom.

On the other hand, China have qualified for their maiden Asian Champions Trophy final. Their journey to the summit clash has been a rollercoaster ride. They started with a defeat to India but bounced back with a 4-2 win over Malaysia. The hosts then faced a 2-3 loss to South Korea and were also routed 5-1 by Pakistan in the pool stage.

The youngster displayed goalkeeping masterclass in the shoot-out, saving all four of Pakistan’s attempts after the match was drawn 1-1 in regulation time.

Data Debrief: Hammers on the march but Saints need points

Despite Julen Lopetegui being under pressure at points this season, this win means his side are now unbeaten in their last four Premier League matches, which is their best run since February and March of this year.

Bowen came up with the good when it mattered, stealing a march on his marker to turn in. He has now scored 48 Premier League goals for West Ham, who he joined from Hull City in January 2020. He needs 20 more goals to catch team-mate Michail Antonio, who is the only West Ham player to net over 50 goals in the competition.

Juric, meanwhile, has taken over a side that now rivals the worst in Premier League history in terms of their opening 18 league games - only Sheffield United (five) in the 2020-21 season managed to accumulate fewer points than Southampton (six), who are level with the Sunderland side of 2005-06. Both the Blades and Black Cats finished rock bottom in those campaigns.