Southampton tagged as extremely fortunate to dodge West Ham misery | OneFootball

Southampton's visit to West Ham was a heavily balanced matchup that rightfully ended in a draw. Yet, Keith Hackett has indicated that the Saints were extremely fortunate to avoid a game-changing call that could have left them empty-handed.

The first half of the Premier League was full of Southampton's defensive disasterclass. On the other hand, the ongoing one isn't a massive improvement but now it's a bunch of crucial moments that decide every Saints fixture.

Further, it goes without saying that a mammoth chunk of them only lay the foundations for a defeat or worse yet, another dull 3-1 sight. Still, a handful of such turning points must be recognized that lend a helping hand to the Saints.

While taking on West Ham, Southampton was blatantly pathetic in the final third, but they weren't the only ones who underperformed on the away trip.

Southampton could have departed London Stadium with no points

Recently, experienced referee Keith Hackett disapproved of a penalty decision that kept the Saints in the game. West Ham was the attacking side in question and Hackett insists that Southampton were lucky to dodge a potential 2-0 misery coming their way.

In his own words, Hackett was quoted by the Football Insider: "This is a defender wrapping his arm around the attacker, restricting the player's movement, slowing him down. Therefore a penalty kick should be the outcome."

Should that have turned out to be the match official's verdict, Southampton's losing momentum would have escalated even further. Plus, the Saints going on to crumble under the mammoth lead could have been the reality instead of them netting a goal.

And, who knows, even Simon Rusk's defence-prioritizing tactics might have been called into question had Southampton gone two games without scoring under him. Still, the bottom line remains that nothing such happened and the Saints should also move on from that match.

Finally, let's hope Southampton doesn't remain at the centre stage of more such debatable calls in the remaining month of Premier League action.