Southampton 3 West Ham 1: Watch Romain Perraud’s STUNNER as Saints dispatch Hammers to earn FA Cup quarter-final spot
AFTER one of the most difficult weeks of his working life, Ralph Hasenhuttl was given a welcome distraction as his Southampton side made it back to the FA Cup quarter-finals.
James Ward-Prowse’s penalty proved the difference, as Romain Perraud’s wonder strike was cancelled out by ex-Saints loanee Michail Antonio.
Sub Armando Broja ensured safe passage for last year’s semi-finalists to the last eight with a clinical finish in stoppage time.
Hasenhuttl claimed it had been hard to concentrate on his job – and on ‘ridiculous football’ – in the last week amid the shocking events unfolding in Ukraine.
The Austrian had a particular cause for concern given the sister of his injured defender Lyanco had been stuck in Kiev for three frantic days until she and her family were evacuated by her husband’s team Shakhtar Donetsk.
The terrifying situation trivialised this encounter but also gave everyone involved the chance to take their minds off horrors happening in Eastern Europe.
West Ham have had their own close connection to the conflict via their Ukrainian attacker Andriy Yarmolenko.
He was not involved, as was expected given the personal hell he has been going through since Russian troops invaded his country.
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David Moyes went for a near full-strength side but Hasenhuttl sprung a surprise by making NINE changes.
Moyes’ side started the game more threateningly, as understudies like Will Smallbone, Yan Valery and Moussa Djenepo sought to shake of rustiness for the hosts.
Red-hot Jarrod Bowen would have put the Hammers up within two minutes as he raced onto Pablo Fornals’ raking pass, were it not for a last-ditch intervention from Jack Stephens.
Saints weathered the early storm and began to push back, with Adam Armstrong firing a warning shot over the bar.
Then, on 31 minutes, Perraud blasted in the kind of goal that makes you stand back, admire and forget, for a split second at least, about anything else going on in the world.
The Frenchman let fly from 30 yards and found the far corner to net his first Saints goal in spectacular style.
Hasenhuttl brought on two of his big-hitters in Stuart Armstrong and Broja at the break.
And soon Moyes was forced into taking off one of his star players when Soucek was sent crashing to the turf by Ibrahima Diallo’s flailing arm, blood pouring from the side of his head.
But on the hour, the Irons were back in it via a mistake from Willy Caballero.
The veteran stopper tried to punch away Bowen’s corner but weakly pushed it towards Issa Diop, who cut it back for Antonio to convert from a few yards out.
It did not take long for Saints to reclaim their lead, though.
Stephens smashed a long free-kick up the pitch which Broja ran onto, having fought off Craig Dawson.
The Albanian was just about to pull the trigger when he was felled by the desperate Dawson.
Strangely, Andre Marriner did not give it straight away but changed his mind following VAR advice to check his pitch-side monitor.
Hasenhuttl could not watch as Ward-Prowse ran up to smash home the spot-kick.
Sadly, the celebrations were marred by four or five idiots running onto the pitch from the crowd, in what has been an all-too-frequent occurrence this season.
Dawson almost made up for his error with a late header from a corner but it was beaten away by a smart Caballero stop, before an excellent individual goal from Broja killed off the tie completely in injury time.
Saints are now into the last eight – with realistic ambitions of going even further than last year’s run to the semis.
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