WEST HAM ran out comfortable 3-1 winners against Southampton on Saturday, thanks to a glittering performance by new signing Jarrod Bowen.

Hammers manager David Moyes was pleased with the contribution of the man of the match and said that he hopes Bowen will be a top Premier League player for West Ham long into the future.

“In my head today was always going to be his chance to start and I’m really pleased with how he started.

“But it can’t be all about today. We also want a top player for the next six or seven years. I’ll use him at the right times,” Moyes said.

It was clear that the manager had put a lot of work in on the training ground over recent weeks, getting this team to work for each other and play as a cohesive unit.

And Bowen caused problems for the visitors all afternoon with his pace and ability to find space. The game was a quarter of an hour old when he latched onto a perfectly weighted through ball from Pablo Fornals to fire home across Southampton keeper Alex McCarthy.

Southampton didn’t take long to equalise though, with Michael Obafemi clipping a ball into the box from James Ward-Prowse home.

But after Issa Diop narrowly missed a header, West Ham were back in front before half time. Michail Antonio looped a cross over the keeper onto the head of Sebastian Haller, who scrambled to squeeze the ball home on the follow-up.

After just eight minutes in the second half, a chip from Fornals put Antonio through on goal to finish a driving shot under the keeper.

Though Moyes also found praise for Haller and Antonio, the manager felt that his team should have been more than one goal ahead by half time. “We had a few chances to make it a bit easier,” said Moyes, who also praised the home support for their backing.

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl was disappointed by the lack of fight shown by his team. “We saw a West Ham team fighting for everything,” said the manager. “The way we defended is not the way we should, if you make it that easy to score.”