Rice rescues point for frustrated West Ham United at Southampton

But on a frustrating afternoon when their shooting boots deserted them, they really should have departed the South Coast with all three points.

After struggling Southampton had taken a debatable interval lead through Romain Perraud, the visitors were grateful for recalled Declan Rice’s timely, spectacular equaliser, midway through a second-half of West Ham United dominance.

Indeed, it has been nearly a year since the Hammers skipper last struck in the Premier League but he could not have chosen a better moment to find the net on a disappointing day during which David Moyes’ men unleashed no less than 25 shots for just their one goal.

Having qualified for the knockout stages of the UEFA Conference League with victory over Anderlecht on Thursday, the Hammers made five changes as they returned to Premier League action.

In came captain Rice, top-scorer Gianluca Scamacca, Łukasz Fabiański, Thilo Kehrer and Tomáš Souček as Alphonse Areola, Flynn Downes, Angelo Ogbonna, Manuel Lanzini and Saïd Benrahma all dropped to the bench.

And with just three minutes on the clock, the visitors came within inches of taking an early lead, when Aaron Cresswell’s first corner of the afternoon eventually fell to Emerson Palmieri whose 12-yarder whipped past the left-hand upright.

In reply, Che Adams - having already accidentally kicked Kehrer in the head with a high boot – drilled a low 18-yard shot into Fabiański’s clutches before the Hammers keeper was forced to punch clear from under his crossbar as a procession of Saints tried to convert a James Ward-Prowse corner.

Defeat at Manchester City last weekend had seen sinking Southampton kick-off in 18th spot - five places and three points below the Hammers - and following that four-goal loss, they made two changes as Mohamed Elyounoussi and Ainsley Maitland-Niles replaced substitutes Stuart Armstrong and Ibrahima Diallo.

Certainly, Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side looked in better shape than their recent form of five defeats in six outings suggested and, on 18 minutes, they should have taken the lead when Elyounoussi sent Adams racing upfield but after outmuscling Kehrer, the Scotland striker saw his low 12-yard shot brilliantly repelled by Fabiański’s right ankle.

But after Scamacca had sent a surprise 30-yarder sizzling just a whisker over Gavin Bazunu’s left-hand angle, Southampton did, indeed, break the deadlock in controversial circumstances on the 20-minute mark.

Firstly, the foot of Kyle Walker-Peters appeared to be well over the touchline as he launched his long-throw into the West Ham area and, when the ball was half-cleared, referee Peter Bankes obstructed the back-tracking Jarrod Bowen.

That left Perraud with a clear sight of goal and the Frenchman’s 25-yard grass-cutter duly wrong-footed Fabiański as it deflected off Ben Johnson before nestling in the bottom left-hand corner of the net to secure only his second-ever goal for the Saints – his first also having come against West Ham in the FA Cup fifth round back in March.

Scamacca and Lucas Paquetá went close to equalising with efforts from the edge of the box but - buoyed by their opener - Southampton were looking threatening on the break and, on the half-hour, Fabiański produced a defiant double stop to deny both Adams and Elyounoussi in quick succession.

Scamacca then sent a snapshot dipping over the crossbar before crossing to the far post, where Paquetá’s angled header flew beyond the far post and, with Armel Bella-Kotchap having fallen heavily in the build-up to that move, the once-capped German international departed as Duje Caleta-Car entered the action for the closing stages of a first half that also saw Walker-Peters booked for a touchline tangle with Emerson.

In a telling statistic from the opening period, West Ham had produced no less than t0 shots albeit they had not forced Bazunu into a single save during those entire opening 45 minutes but just after the restart, Paquetá finally called the Saints’ keeper into action when he let fly with a 20-yard half-volley that was beaten away at full stretch.

A booking for Vladimír Coufal followed for a trip on Adam Armstrong before Benrahma replaced Emerson as Moyes went for a flat back four for the final half hour.

In less than five minutes that switch had paid rich dividends for the Scot, who saw the newly-arrived Algerian combine with Cresswell deep in Southampton territory before the substitute played a one-two with Rice, who collected the return on the edge of the area ahead of bending a spectacular 20-yarder around Caleta-Car and the outstretched left glove of Bazunu on its way into the far corner.

Having levelled through Rice’s first top-flight strike since his goal at Aston Villa last Halloween, it was now West Ham who were now firmly in the ascendancy.

Indeed, Hasenhüttl responded with a dramatic quadruple substitution that saw Diallo, Stuart Armstrong, Samuel Edozie and Sékou Mara bring some fresh legs to the St Mary’s turf for the final quarter-hour.

And, although Scamacca drew a full-length stop from Bazunu, in the end the now dominant Hammers were left to reflect on an afternoon that had seen their 25 shots yield just that one Rice goal and that one solitary point.

Southampton: Bazunu, Walker-Peters, Perraud, Salisu, Bella-Kotchap (Caleta-Car 42), Ward-Prowse, Maitland-Niles (Diallo 73), Elyounoussi, Aribo (Edozie 73), A Armstrong (S Armstrong 73) Adams (Mara 73). Unused subs: McCarthy, Lyanco, Djenepo, Larios.

West Ham United: Fabiański, Kehrer, Cresswell, Johnson, Coufal, Emerson (Benrahma 59), Rice, Souček, Bowen, Paquetá (Lanzini 87), Scamacca (Antonio 87). Unused subs: Areola, Randolph, Fornals, Downes, Ogbonna, Coventry.

Booked: Walker-Peters (44), Coufal (51).

Referee: Peter Bankes.

Attendance: 29,159.