Charlie Austin penalty secures victory for Southampton as 10-man West Ham rue Marko Arnautovic red card

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This was a tale of two natural finishers. Charlie Austin's late penalty gave Southampton victory after ten-man West Ham had come back from 2-0 down to level with two goals from Javier Hernandez.

The Mexico and former Manchester United striker showed why West Ham paid Bayer Leverkusen £16m for his signature last month with two opportunist efforts as the ten-man Hammers seemed to have snatched an improbable point. But another penalty-box predator, Austin, had the final word.

In the end, West Ham proved to be the perfect antidote to Southampton's goal drought at St Mary's. Saints had not scored in seven home games until poor marking allowed Manolo Gabbiadini put them ahead after eleven minutes, and Dusan Tadic made it 2-0 from a penalty after 38 minutes. By then the Hammers were down to ten men after Marko Arnautovic had been sent off for a foul on Jack Stephens.

The afternoon began badly for West Ham when defender Winston Reid left the field on a stretcher during the pre-match warm-up, but after nine minutes the Londoners came close to the opening goal when Michail Antonio found Arnautovic, whose shot sped just the wrong side of the near post.

But a minute later Southampton were ahead with a mirror image of the Hammers' move. Nathan Redmond was given all the time he wanted on the left to play the ball forward to Gabbiadini and he shot across Joe Hart and in with former Saints captain Jose Fonte far too slow to cover. It was the first time the home side had hit the net here for 587 minutes.

West Ham needed to reply, and after 22 minutes Arnautovic dived to nod Javier Hernandez' near-post cross goalwards, forcing a one-handed save from Fraser Forster.

Saints started Mario Lemina, their £18.1m record signing, from Juventus, and his first impact on the game came when his elbow caught Arnautovic on the side of the head as they challenged for a bouncing ball. The ferocity of Mark Noble's subsequent tackle on the Gabon midfield player suggested that the West Ham captain had been none too impressed with Lemina's challenge on Arnautovic.

Perhaps Arnautovic was in the mood to take revenge for the injury, which had required treatment. That may explain, although not justify, what happened next. As Jack Stephens passed the ball out of defence, Arnautovic charged into him from the side, his elbow catching the defender in the neck. It was a clear red card however much the Austrian protested his bewilderment at the decision.

That was after 33 minutes and West Ham were 2-0 down five minutes later. Steven Davis collected a pass from and turned past Fonte and Ogbonna and into the penalty area. Fonte grabbed Davis's arm, Ogbonna his neck, and referee Mason pointed to the penalty spot. Dusan Tadic's penalty was poor and would have hit Joe Hart's knees if he had not moved. As it was, Hart got a trailing leg to the ball, but could not keep it out.

West Ham might have collapsed at that point but instead they rallied and Hernandez showed the predatory instincts for which he was signed, shooting under the body of Fraser Forster after the goalkeeper had only been able to turn aside an effort from Antonio, who had turned past Oriol Romeu and shot low and hard with his left foot.

Andre Ayew and all the travelling fans appealed for a penalty after Ayew's header rebounded from Stephens' arm in the 54th minute. They were frustrated then but celebrating after 74 minutes as Hernandez pounced again, smacking the rebound home after Diafra Sakho's header from Aaron Cresswell's cross had come back off Forster and the woodwork.

Nathan Redmond's deflected shot hit the bar as Saints went for a winner that seemed destined not to come until Pablo Zabaleta was ruled to have pushed Maya Yoshida as he went for James Ward-Prowse's cross. Austin rolled the penalty into the corner as Hart dived the wrong way, and no-one in the ground had expected anything different.

Southampton (4-2-3-1): Forster; Cedric, Stephens, Yoshida, Bertrand; Lemina (Ward-Prowse 65), Romeu; Tadic, Davis (Long 80), Redmond; Gabbiadini (Austin 80).

Subs not used: McCarthy, Boufal, Bednarek, McQueen.

Booked: Tadic.

West Ham United (4-2-3-1): Hart; Zabaleta, Fonte, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Rice (Obiang 76), Noble; Antonio (Sakho 68), Ayew (Fernandes 68), Arnautovic; Hernandez.

Subs not used: Adrian, Byram, Masuaku.

Booked: Zabaleta; Sent off: Arnautovic.

Referee: Lee Mason