Premier League – Tottenham vs West Ham: Spurs welcomed their cross-town rivals West Ham to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday for a crucial match. Both teams headed into the fixture knowing a win would not just put them ahead of their opponents for the evening but also United.
The match served as a contest in which both teams were happy to retain possession. However, the visitors made a handful of defensive errors. And were positioned poorly, especially on the counter which gifted their opponents plenty of chances.
The Irons did impose an ever-existing threat in set-pieces. However, they scored just a goal. Their opponents meanwhile were 2-0 up within the first half an hour thanks to Son who scored once and forced an own goal from Zouma.
The Lilywhites’ chase for the 3rd goal finally succeeded in the dying moments of the games, when the South Korean completed his brace to become the joint second highest goal scorer of this season in the league.
Premier League – Tottenham vs West Ham: Match Ratings
Spurs: Lloris 6; Romero 7, Dier 7, Davies 6.5; Doherty 6.5, Bentancur 7, Hojberg 7, Reguilon 6 (Royal 88); Kulusevski 7 (Bergwijn 90+2), Kane 8, Son 8.5 (Moura 90+2).
Scorers: Zouma OG 9’, Son (24’, 88’).
West Ham: Fabianski 6.5; Zouma 6, Dawson 6, Cresswell 6; Johnson 6, Soucek 6, Rice 6.5, Masuaku 5.5 (Fornals 57, 6.5); Benrahma 6.5, Antonio 5.5 (Yarmolenko 57, 6), Lanzini 5 (Vlasic 84).
Goals: Benrahma 35
Bookings: Dawson
Managers’ Reaction
Tottenham Hotspur’s Antonio Conte: “The only way to put pressure on Arsenal is to get three points, to win. There are nine games to go and for us every game has to be a final.
“I like to fight to be competitive, to have the possibility to fight and then you know very well only one team is able to win but I think my past gives me a chance.’
“In five months we did a fantastic job with these players and now I think that we reduced the gap with many teams in England.”
West Ham’s David Moyes: “To lose the third goal was a sickener because we’d gone two down – and I think both of their goals were a little bit unlucky, a little bit unfortunate, both took deflections or were own goals.
“I think Tottenham were a big, big threat on the counter-attack. When we gave the ball away, they became a big threat.
“I thought Harry Kane was exceptional with the way he played and we found it difficult trying to deal with him.
“We hung in there and we stuck at it. At 2-1 down with five minutes to go – less than that – even at that point I thought we might go and nick a second goal here, but we weren’t to do so.”
