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Southampton boss Hasenhuttl: We couldn't handle long ball West Ham

Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl says they weren't strong enough defensively for defeat at West Ham.

The hosts took the lead early on as Jarrod Bowen punished Saints for giving the ball away, before Michael Obafemi restored parity with half-an-hour played.

However, the Hammers were to take a lead into the break as Sébastien Haller beat Alex McCarthy to the ball in the air, with all three points confirmed after the restart courtesy of Michail Antonio.

“We conceded three goals and they conceded only one and the reason is because they defended better than we did," Hasenhüttl said.

“The first goal was in the box and only running with the man and not really stopping him shooting on goal, which is absolutely not the way we can defend.

“The second goal I don't think I have to explain, everyone saw what happened with Alex [McCarthy]. The way we defended, I think the guys know it was far away from what we wanted to do.

“We knew the long balls and the strong guys up front but it's not enough to know it, you've got to defend it well and we didn't."

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