Daniel Peretz continues to harvest praise in England, this time following one of his most impressive performances in a Southampton shirt. The Israeli goalkeeper provided 10 saves on Saturday in a dramatic 3-2 away win over West Ham, including a crucial save in stoppage time that prevented the hosts from equalizing to 3-3. Peretz's performance did not go unnoticed by the English media, as both Southampton personnel and websites covering West Ham chose to compliment him.
The Saints Marching website chose Peretz as one of the "five winners" of the match, explaining: "Daniel Peretz deserves immense praise. He did concede two goals, but without him between the posts, the victory could easily have slipped through Southampton's fingers. Right near the end, West Ham came very close to equalizing to 3-3, but Peretz produced an exceptional save and prevented the hosts from snatching a point at the last moment. With no fewer than 10 saves in total, his alertness throughout the match was just as important as the ability of the attacking players, who scored all three goals in the first half."
Praise from teammates and former players
Jo Tessem, the former Southampton midfielder, chose the Israeli goalkeeper as Man of the Match on the BBC Radio Solent broadcast: "I have to choose Daniel Peretz as Man of the Match, because his unbelievable save at the end kept them in the game." He later added: "This save by Peretz at the end proves that you need a goalkeeper to secure points, and that is precisely the difference between taking three points and settling for one."
Southampton manager Tonda Eckert also joined in the praise, saying at the end: "When you come to play here, I think you always need a goalkeeper who is at the peak of his ability. That's the reality. You can defend well as a team, but ultimately you also need someone between the posts, and I think Daniel was very good today."
Envy and frustration from West Ham
The West Ham Zone website, which covers West Ham, also used Peretz's performance to point out the problems in the Hammers' goalkeeping position: "The quality gap between the goalkeepers was a central factor in the defeat. Southampton's goalkeeper proved exactly what is missing in West Ham's squad." The site added: "While Southampton came away with the victory thanks to Peretz, how often has Mads Hermansen delivered such a performance for West Ham? Jo Tessem is completely right. A steady goalkeeper can make the difference, and Hermansen is not that kind of goalkeeper."
Southampton's victory snapped a nine-match unbeaten run for West Ham, which would have gone top of the Championship had it won.