West Ham 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur: Spurs unlucky in loss at London Stadium
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Tottenham Hotspur made the short trip to the London Stadium on Sunday to face the surging Hammers, but couldn’t quite get the job done. Spurs rolled the dice in the second half and were unlucky not to earn a draw after going 2-0 down after 47 minutes. Lucas Moura scored the team’s only goal with a lovely near post header from a corner provided from substitute Gareth Bale, and Spurs hit the woodwork twice late, but couldn’t quite get the job done. The final score was 2-1 to West Ham.
Jose Mourinho put out a strong side that was pretty similar to the one that crushed Wolfsberg in the Europa League midweek, but opted for a center back pairing of Davinson Sanchez and Eric Dier. The big surprise was a start for Sergio Reguilon, who made his first appearance after missing the past few weeks due to injury. Lucas Moura, Son Heung-Min, and Erik Lamela started behind Harry Kane.
Key Moments First Half
5’ — Goal to West Ham. Jarrod Bowen fires in a cross that hits Michail Antonio and Hugo makes the initial save, but the rebound takes a touch off of Tanganga and Antonio is there to tap it home. Never mind that Sergio Reguilon got hammered on the build-up with no call.
12’ — What a run from Erik Lamela on a counter! He glided past at least three defenders before passing to Harry Kane who shanked his shot wide.
17’ — Owwwwwww Tomas Soucek and Davinson Sanchez just clashed heads on a corner and Soucek ended up with a nasty bloody cut on his forehead. He heads to the sidelines but comes back after a few minutes.
36’ — Yellow card for Erik Lamela, which is a bit like saying “the sun came up this morning.”
37’ — Craig Dawson with a POWERFUL header on goal off of a corner. He outjumped Sanchez for the shot but Lloris make a good reaction save.
41’ — Yellow card for Hojbjerg, and it’s a little unlucky as it looked like he slipped before making the challenge.
43’ — Spurs finally get their first shot on target. Reguilon with a cross to the center of the area and Lamela gets a crack that forces a diving save from Fabianski.
44’ — A third yellow for Spurs, this time it’s Reguilon, who assumedly picks it up for accumulation.
45+2’ — Two good chances from Spurs. Kane with a shot from an acute angle that forces another good save from Fabianksi. Off the ensuing corner, Dier gets a free header at the near post, but it’s six feet wide of the post.
HALFTIME: Spurs take a 1-0 deficit into the break after one defensive breakdown early. A pretty shambolic display, and Moyes has set up his squad with a well structured defense Spurs have had difficulty on anything other than the counter though they had ten shots.
Second Half
Jose Mourinho opting for a double-sub at halftime, with Gareth Bale and Matt Doherty coming in for Erik Lamela and Japhet Tanganga
46’ — Goal to West Ham. Jesse Lingard fires it past Hugo just a minute after time. There was a lengthy VAR check for offside but it’s given as the ball was ruled to have come off of Sanchez’s knee. Terrible giveaway from Doherty and bad defense from Dier and Sanchez. 2-0.
55’ — Yellow card on Soucek forces a free kick to Spurs in a dangerous area, but Sanchez’s attempt at a volley goes hilariously wrong. That’s assuming you think kicking the ball 20’ over the bar is “hilarious.”
61’ — Gareth Bale is trying stuff. This time he dribbles to the top of the box and fires an effort that Fabianski saves. Just after, yellow on West Ham’s Diop for a challenge on Lucas.
64’ — GOAL! LUCAS MOURA off a corner kick from Gareth Bale! Gareth’s corner was a lovely ball, and Lucas managed to shake free of Aaron Cresswell to head it past Fabianski at the near post. 1-2 now, game on.
69’ — Another yellow, this time on West Ham’s Antonio.
72’ — Yet another West Ham yellow, this time on Fornals, wheeeeeee
75’ — Final sub for Spurs — Dele’s on for Reguilon who I assume is not 90 minutes fit. Who’s playing left back?
78’ — HOW DID WE NOT SCORE ARRGH!! Kane was sprung on a counter and fired in a low cross to Dele who couldn’t get a clean touch on his sliding effort. The ball rebounded out to Bale who fired a rocket off the bar. GAAAAH.
81’ — West Ham’s first sub, Johnson on for Fornals.
81’ — Lengthy stoppage of play after a coming together between WHU’s Fabianski and Coufal. Both are okay.
90’ — Five minutes of extra time, but West Ham are parking the bus. Spurs are turning the screws but is there enough time?
90+2’ — SPURS OFF THE POST AGAIN ALKJLASKDJFLAK:SDJF
90+4’ — Sub for WHU, Mark Noble is on for Lingard.
FULL TIME: Unlucky. Spurs had chances late, but just couldn’t quite get the equalizer over the line. Final score 2-1 to WHU.
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