Sunderland 1-2 West Ham, 31st March 2014
5 Seconds of Summer were number one with ‘She Looks So Perfect’, a jury was selected to hear a fresh inquest into the 96 deaths caused by the 1989 Hillsborough disaster and Captain America: The Winter Soldier was in UK cinemas as West Ham United completed a 2-1 win at Sunderland.
Andy Carroll opened the scoring in the ninth minute, rising above the Sunderland defence to power home a header from a left-wing corner. The visitors doubled their lead five minutes into the second half, Carroll chesting down a high, hanging free-kick from halfway by James Tomkins into the path of Mo Diame, whose shot skidded into the corner beyond the helpless Vito Mannone via a slight deflection.
Gus Poyet introduced winger Adam Johnson and the substitute swept in a precise finish with 25 minutes remaining to set up a tense finale but the Hammers held out to leave the Black Cats second bottom and four points adrift of safety with eight games to play. The goals from this game can be seen on the WHTID social media pages.
Sam Allardyce’s Hammers would go on to finish the 2013/14 Premier League season in 13th place, with the Mackems ending up one below in 14th position. Manchester City won the title, Arsenal won the FA Cup and Mark Noble was voted Hammer of the Year for the second time.
Sunderland: Vito Mannone, Phil Bardsley, Santiago Vergini, Wes Brown, John O’Shea (Craig Gardner), Marcos Alonso, Liam Bridcutt, Ki Sung-Yueng (Ignacio Scocco), Lee Cattermole (Adam Johnson), Connor Wickham, Fabio Borini.
West Ham United: Adrian, Guy Demel, James Tomkins, Winston Reid, George McCartney (Pablo Armero), Mark Noble, Matt Taylor, Stewart Downing, Kevin Nolan (Antonio Nocerino), Mo Diame (Roger Johnson), Andy Carroll.
West Ham 3-0 Southampton, 31st March 2018
31st March 2018 – Rudimental featuring Jess Glynne, Macklemore & Dan Caplen were number one with ‘These Days’, Peter Rabbit topped the UK box office and former England international Ray Wilkins died four days later. David Moyes’ struggling West Ham United, meanwhile, beat Mark Hughes’ Southampton 3-0 in a Premier League encounter in front of 56,882 at London Stadium.
West Ham recovered from the early loss of the injured Michail Antonio when Portuguese loanee Joao Mario smashed in a 13th-minute opener from the edge of the penalty area after being picked out by Cheikhou Kouyate, who had surged powerfully away on the counter-attack from his own half. Scorer Mario then turned creator four minutes later, setting up Marko Arnautovic for the second with a brilliant cross from the right that the Austrian bundled home at the second attempt after his initial header had been saved.
Arnautovic added his second in first-half stoppage time, volleying home superbly after a rare piece of quality end product from Arthur Masuaku, who was playing his first match after a six-game suspension for spitting at an opponent. With the game wrapped up by half-time, a quiet second half followed, although Aaron Cresswell did strike the crossbar with a fierce, dipping volley from distance.
West Ham went on to finish the 2017/18 season in 13th position. Arnautovic was the club’s top goalscorer with 11 goals from 35 matches; he was also voted Hammer of the Year with Declan Rice runner-up. Southampton finished 17th, Manchester City won the league and Chelsea won the FA Cup.
West Ham United: Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta, Declan Rice, Angelo Ogbonna, Aaron Cresswell, Arthur Masuaku, Cheikhou Kouyate (Josh Cullen), Mark Noble, Joao Mario, Michail Antonio (Edimilson Fernandes), Marko Arnautovic (Jordan Hugill).
Southampton: Alex McCarthy, Cedric Soares, Jack Stephens, Wesley Hoedt, Ryan Bertrand, Dusan Tadic, Mario Lemina, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Nathan Redmond (Sofiane Boufal), Charlie Austin (Guido Carrillo), Manolo Gabbiadini (Shane Long).
I’d like to finish by wishing a very Happy Birthday to my sister, a season ticket holder with me in the Billy Bonds Stand – Happy Birthday Nat!