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TalkSport (DAB or 1089 MW)

24  Serge AURIER
  6  Davinson SANCHEZ
15  Eric DIER
33  Ben DAVIES    

17  Moussa SISSOKO
18  Giovani LO CELSO

27  Lucas MOURA  (23  Stephen BERGWIJN  72)
20  DELE Alli  (11  Erik LAMELA  59)
  7  Heung-Min SON  (  8  Harry WINKS  85)

10  Harry KANE      

Unused subs: 
22  Paulo GAZZANIGA
  4  Toby ALDERWEIRELD
  5  Jan VERTONGHEN
19  Ryan SESSEGNON
28  Tanguy NDOMBELE
30  Gedson FERNANDES

24  Ryan FREDERICKS
  4  Fabian BALBUENA
23  Issa DIOP
  3  Aaron CRESSWELL

17  Jarrod BOWEN
28  Tomas SOUCEK  (o.g.)
41  Declan RICE
16  Mark NOBLE (c)       (  8  Felipe ANDERSON  71)
18  Pablo FORNALS      (10  Manuel LANZINI  71)

30  Mikail ANTONIO

Unused subs: 
35  Darren RANDOLPH
  7  Andriy YARMOLENKO
19  Jack WILSHERE
21  Angelo OGBONNA
27  Albian AJETI
32  Xande SILVA
53  Ben JOHNSON
 

Spurs enjoyed a win at last (after about four months !) and while it was a decent performance, the game was not that exciting, much of which was due to West Ham's inability to go forward with any threat and to be happier to settle for defending and stifling the game, which didn't work out for them.  Once more Mikail Antonio was the match winner.  Scorer here last season.  Giving possession away when he daydreamed on the ball for Tottenham's second goal this time.   A West Ham supporting mate reckons that they will be relegated, as they don't have the players for the fight.  We can but hope !

Spurs had Dele and Moura back in the attacking three in midfield, while the remainder of the side came through the Manchester United match, while the visiting side had a practical look about it, with their creative and attacking players mostly starting on the bench.

With a long ball from the left into the right side of the box, Antonio laid the ball off for Noble, who was running into the box and wanted a penalty when he went down under pressure from two Spurs players, but the ball ran harmlessly through to Lloris in the first action of the game. Spurs moved the ball to the other end and Son took on Fredericks and fired a ball high to the near post, which Fabianski palmed away and then nearly into his own goal. The linesman flagged that it had gone out  for a corner, so it wouldn’t have been a goal, but Tottenham messed up the corner and it ended with a goal-kick for the visitors.

Aurier’s long ball into the box looked for Son, but it ended with Diop needlessly heading it out for a corner. Spurs couldn’t make anything from it, but from open play, they were not finding their targets with their passing, giving West Ham the opportunity to enjoy some possession. They did work the ball well after 12  minutes, when Sissoko played Aurier in behind Cresswell, but his low cross was cut out and then when they took the corner, it was hit too long and went over everyone.

Being happy to play the ball about at the back gave The Irons the chance to get plenty of men behind the ball and the speed of the build-up was painfully  slow and the away side were finding it difficult to hold the ball up front when it was cleared. It was all a bit scrappy when the ball kept being given away.  A long West Ham free-kick eluded Rice’s head and ran on for Antonio, whose shot was kept out by Hugo’s legs and Bowen had a shot blocked as he followed  in. VAR might have found Antonio offside  had anything come from it though.

Lucas Moura, playing his 100th Spurs game, turned Rice inside out to fire a shot out of nothing and Fabianski had to tip the powerful drive over the bar. After the drinks break, Harry Kane hit a 25-yard shot on target on 25 minutes that Fabianski was right behind, while Kane’ clever ball almost put Dele through, but  Diop got a toe to it. Lo Celso then sprayed the ball right to Aurier and his cross was headed over by Harry Kane under pressure from Balbuena. Spurs were starting to put West Ham under pressure on the ball and Lucas won it off Cresswell, playing it into Son’s feet and he passed wide right for Kane to cross in low, but Rice cleared it for a corner.

With lots of men back behind the ball, West Ham were making it hard to find a way through, with Spurs reduced to shooting from outside the box. The away team broke down their right and Fredericks’ cross was well taken by Lloris low at players’ feet, from it, Spurs did look to break, but took too long to move at the opposition’s defence, resulting in a long string of passes until the ball was given away. Spurs won a corner and then another and when the ball dropped for Dier at the near post, he hammered a shot at goal that came off Balbuena for another corner.

When Spurs played the ball up to Kane in the box, Balbuena took it off him, but Lo Celso picked it up and played it left to Son, who came inside to drill a low shot inside the post to Fabianski’s right, but VAR ruled it out for a toenail offside seconds before the 45 minutes were up. There was a final chance before the break, when Lo Celso released Davies on the left and he drove a ball across the box to Moura, ten yards out and left alone, but the Brazilian put his shot wide when he should have at least hit the target.

Much of the first half football had been as sterile as the atmosphere, with West Ham mostly intent  on not letting Tottenham find space and time on the ball, which they found hard to break down. When they did, it was technology and not West Ham that denied them.

At the start of the second half, Spurs tried to move through the busy centre of the West Ham defence on the box, but found no way through, but Dier stepped forward with the ball and as it opened up in front of him, bent an effort on goal that went a couple of feet wide. When Aurier was played inside the full back by Moura shortly afterwards, the ball went in low to the near post, where Kane tried to flick it in, but the keeper was on top of him and it went for a corner.

The Hammers had a half chance when Bowen and Antonio double-teamed Davies to take the ball off him  and when Bowen crossed, it was Fornals who was in space in the box, but scuffed his shot well wide.  Rice moved forward from hallway, with an exchange of passes with Antonio, but his shot was blocked for a corner. From it, Tottenham broke away with Son running a long way with the ball before putting Lo Celso away wide on the left. His ball inside picked out Kane and he shot with his left foot at the near post, dragging it narrowly wide of the far post.

The game was opening up and Rice’s 50 yard ball forward found  Antonio on the end of it, but he could not control his half volley that flew into the Paxton Road end.  When Balbuena gave the ball away, Lamela ran at the defence and looked to have been contacted by the same West Ham defender, but stayed on his feet to fire a shot up at the angle only to hit the side-netting.  From a corner won after Aurier had been played wide by Lo Celso, the ball came in, missed everyone except Souchek, who deflected the ball into his own goal and despite VAR looking for a handball in the melee of players who went for the ball, the goal stood this time with 63 minutes gone.

West Ham had to make some attacking substitutions and with Anderson and Lanzini coming on for Noble and Fornals, it could have opened up space for Tottenham. A ball over the top for Aurier to run onto gave him space, but his volleyed attempt at a cross was mis-hit and fell softly for Fabianski to collect.

West Ham worked the ball along the right wing and when a deep cross came in, Bergwijn had been alert to track back and concede the corner, from which Anderson drilled a shot a yard wide. A soft free-kick wide on our left was given when Antonio tried to back hell the ball and missed, falling over in the process. Antonio won the header when it came in, with Hugo struggling, Anderson pulled it back for Bowen, whose shot bounced off the outside of the post for a goal- kick with just under a quarter of an hour to go.

West Ham’s changes had produced more a little more quality on the ball and going forward, but Spurs needed to exploit the space that was left behind the Irons’ midfield. Instead, Spurs were dropping deeper behind the ball, inviting West Ham on. It worked for Tottenham, with Lamela picking the ball off Antonio and exchanging passes with Lo Celso before passing forward to Son inside his own half. Sonny played a straight ball forward to Harry Kane, running away from Balbuena and as Fabianski came out, he steered the ball to the keeper’s left to make it 2-0 with just eight minutes left in the game.

West Ham went forward, looking for a way back into the match, but, despite decent passing moves, they rarely looked threatening. As the clock ticked into added time, Spurs broke and Lo Celso played it right to Bergwijn who struck a powerful shot into the side-netting. The Irons had settled for the 2-0 defeat, as their players walked around and almost conceded a third when Aurier’s firm cross just evaded Harry Kane diving in at the far post.

The match certainly wasn’t a classic and lacked the passion of a normal London derby, with West Ham losing their second Cup final of the season, with Spurs completing the double over the visiting side. With Harry Kane back on the score-sheet, Lo Celso completing a good 90 minutes and Mourinho getting his tactics right to win a first game in eight, things look a lot rosier now, even though it was only West Ham that Spurs were up against.  Moyes raged at the end of the match about the possibility of a handball against Sanchez in the build-up to the won goal, but admitted he had only just seen it, so debatable was it when it happened that he was unaware.  It seems like he may be unaware that without goals, there is a much reduced chance of his side retaining their Premier League place, with all the embarrassment and financial hardship that goes with that.  Players will want to leave to further their careers, they could be stuck with players on Premier League wages and the crowds will make the shouts of disapproval of the board echo in the vast empty space of the Ratepayer's Stadium.  The fans of the club had seen this coming.  Their board shut their eyes to the reality.

With the seven games left, Spurs need to get on a run and that is a little difficult when the next match isn’t until nine days time.

Pete Stachio