West Ham had to settle for a point on the south coast after a game in which officiating was once again called into question.

David Moyes’ side were guilty of being wasteful in front of goal throughout, with a cutting edge lacking which on another day should have resulted in a comfortable win.

But ultimately we were punished for missed opportunities, however the officiating played a big role in the result too, with the hosts opening goal incredibly contentious with 2 key moments seemingly ignored.

Firstly, a throw-in from Walker-Peters clearly was taken over the touchline – however the linesman and even VAR decided it wasn’t a foul-throw. Then in the build-up the referee impeded Jarrod Bowen who was making a challenge, with Perraud then turning to fire a deflected shot into the bottom corner to give Southampton an undeserved lead.

West Ham didn’t give in though an battled for an equaliser, which arrived with 25 minutes remaining, when substitute and the impressive Said Benrahma returning a one-two with Declan Rice, who produced a sublime curling effort into the bottom corner.

Our Irons continued to push for a winner, with Moyes ringing the changes to introduce the fresh legs of Manuel Lanzini and Michail Antonio, but it wasn’t to be. A point was gained but also possibly 2 lost.

Manager David Moyes though was quite rightly furious with the officiating, as once again West Ham have been found on the receiving end of some questionable decisions that have ultimately cost us valuable points.

“We don’t want to blame referees and officials,” stated the boss to the press. “But sometimes you have to say ‘this was a real problem’.

“He stopped Jarrod Bowen getting to the ball and they scored from a deflection from that, and I can’t do anything about it and I can’t change it.”

Moyes also pointed out that Tomas Soucek was fouled in the area in what the Scot felt was a penalty, but once again we were on the receiving end of a poor call from the officials.

“It was an incredibly bad decision on Tomáš Souček which should have been a penalty kick and it’s not given and the referee gets in the way for their goal,” added Moyes.

On reflection, a point away from home in the Premier League can’t be taken as a ‘bad’ result, and 7 points from a possible 9 in our last 3 matches shows progress is certainly being made. The frustration though will linger in terms of ‘what if’.

A trip to Merseyside awaits on Wednesday night, and a much more clinical display will be needed if West Ham are to get the points against a slow starting Liverpool this season.