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Saints headed to the London Stadium at the beginning of the 2016/17 campaign fresh off the back of a first league win of the season over Swansea.
Charlie Austin netted the game’s only goal that day and he would add a second strike in as many weeks against the Hammers, turning Ryan Bertrand’s low cross into the far corner on the stroke of half-time to give Claude Puel’s side the lead.
The frontman had an assist to his name 22 minutes after the interval, a first-time pass splitting the home defence in two for Dušan Tadić to coolly round Adriàn and double the advantage.
James Ward-Prowse slotted in a well-deserved third as Saints picked up their second win of a five-game unbeaten run in the autumn.
30 August 2014: West Ham 1-3 Southampton
Another early-season meeting, another resounding away victory.
After defeat to Liverpool and a home stalemate with West Brom, this 3-1 success at the Boleyn Ground kick-started what proved to be a memorable season for Saints.
A Mark Noble strike inside half an hour threatened to produce a fruitless August before Morgan Schneiderlin’s close-range brace from a pair of set-pieces either side of the break and Graziano Pelle’s late third secured all three points for the visitors.
2 December 2002: West Ham 0-1 Southampton
The 2002/03 season was the year of James Beattie.
No Englishman scored more times than the Saints striker, whose 23 Premier League goals saw him finish in third place for the Golden Boot behind Thierry Henry (24) and Ruud van Nistelrooy (25).
As the scorer of 53 per cent of his team’s league goals, it should come as no surprise that Beattie was the hero in east London in December 2002.
Latching onto Brett Ormerod’s left-wing cross, the Lancaster-born striker found the net for the ninth time in seven outings to decide the contest in stoppage time.
The win came at the beginning of a storming winter for Gordon Strachan’s men; 19 points from the late November to early January laid the platform for a then highest ever Premier League finish of eighth, and a spot in the FA Cup final.
Two late goals at the end of the first half got this contest up and running. Matt Le Tissier had given Saints the lead in the 40th minute when his first-time volley bounced back off the post and was turned in at the second attempt.
The lead barely lasted a minute though as Trevor Sinclair levelled up to make it 1-1 heading into half-time.
Saints retook the lead on 63 minutes thanks to the first of two Egil Ostenstad’s efforts when he headed home Carlton Palmer’s cross, and the latter made it 3-1 by slotting home Le Tissier’s pass 16 minutes later.
Steve Lomas pulled one back for the Hammers in the 82nd minute, but Ostenstad made the points safe with a powerful shot across goal for the game’s sixth and his second goal.
A rollercoaster of a game saw West Ham grab the first and last goals of this contest which helped Saints survive relegation on the final day of the season by one point.
Alan Ball’s men were battling to stay in the top-flight alongside Manchester City, Sheffield United, Ipswich Town and Everton in the hope of avoiding the same fate that had already sent Oldham and Swindon down.
The do-or-die afternoon began in nightmare fashion. Danny Williamson put the Hammers ahead after 11 minutes before Matt Le Tissier, ever the saviour, pulled one back from a free-kick just before half-time.
Le Tissier turned provider from out wide after the break as Saints briefly led through Neil Maddison’s header. Martin Allen levelled the scores on 62 minutes and Le Tiss slotted from the penalty spot to ease visiting nerves.
There was more drama to come when Ken Monkou put through his own net in the final minute, but a point proved to be enough as Sheffield United lost out in the fight to retain their top-flight status.
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