Tottenham 1 West Ham 2
After three consecutive defeats, Ange Postecoglou’s side got a well-earned point away to Man City in their last outing. West Ham were the visitors who had made the short journey to North London for this midweek game.
Tottenham got off to the perfect start when Cristian Romero headed home from a corner to mark his return from suspension. They had missed the Argentinian during this period as he is currently the only fit centre back in the squad.
The hosts almost doubled their lead when Lo Celso fired a shot at goal from the edge of the box but it was beaten away by Fabianski. It was a first start for some time for the West Ham keeper and he was keen to impress the manager.
Kudus then robbed Ben Davies of the ball out wide, picking out Paqueta on the back post but his header went harmlessly wide of the goal. Moyes’ side knew chances would be in short supply in this game so they needed to be more clinical in front of goal.
Credit: @SpursOfficial
Lo Celso then got into a wide area and looked to play a pass across the six-yard box but a sliding Kurt Zouma deflected the ball onto the frame of the goal. Luckily for The Hammers it deflected wide to keep them in the game.
Into the second half and West Ham fashioned a rare attack, Bowen fed the ball to Kudus who looked to shoot from range. The ball deflected off Romero, straight into the path of Bowen, who calmly slotted the ball past Vicario to equalise.
The goal silenced the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as they were suddenly level in a game they had been in total control of. Postecoglou’s side had paid the same price Man City did against them on the weekend by not taking their chances.
As Spurs streamed forward, Porro swung a cross in, finding Richarlison with inch-perfect precision. The misfiring Brazilian striker put his header wide of the post, continuing his goal drought for the North London side.
Just when they thought things could not get any worse, a short backpass to the keeper led to another comedy of errors. Vicario came charging out and instead of trying to gather the ball he looked to punch it from the floor.
The ball went straight to James Ward-Prowse whose shot struck the woodwork but came straight back to the former Southampton midfielder. He made no mistake at the second time of asking and slotted the ball into the back of the net to give The Hammers the lead.
Credit: @WestHam
As he ran over to the away fans and did his trademark ‘golf swing’ celebration, David Moyes’ side knew they had to try and hold on for a massive away win. The goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of Ange Postecoglou’s side and they failed to find the goal they so desperately needed.
West Ham moved to within three points of Spurs, who have now gone five games without victory. After such a remarkable start to the season, things have turned sour for Postecoglou and he will need to find a way to change their fortunes.
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