In a heated London derby, West Ham held Tottenham to a 1-1 draw:
Kurt Zouma tied the score after Spurs’ fifth-minute lead from Brennan Johnson was broken, while Michail Antonio squandered a clear opportunity to complete the comeback in the second half.
In an entertaining London derby, West Ham held Tottenham to a 1-1 draw, and Tottenham lost the opportunity to cut the deficit on fourth-place Aston Villa.
Brennan Johnson’s tap-in gave Spurs the lead in the fifth minute, only moments after Jarrod Bowen’s spectacular miss at the other end. However, Kurt Zouma’s unmarked header from a corner gave West Ham the equaliser moments later.
After halftime, the Hammers had a chance to make a breakthrough when Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario made a nice save from Konstantinos Mavropanos on another corner kick. However, Michail Antonio wasted a clear opportunity to score when he shot straight at the Italian goalie.
In stoppage time, both teams had a chance to win it: Bowen missed the far post for Vicario, and Destiny Udogie sent a shot directly at Lukasz Fabianski from within the box. But they were unable to be split apart.
Spurs are now nine points ahead of sixth-place Manchester United, who play Chelsea on Thursday, and two points behind Villa, who visit Manchester City on Wednesday. In contrast, West Ham is still in seventh place following Newcastle’s draw with Everton.
When asked if the outcome was satisfactory, Ange Postecoglou, the manager of Tottenham, replied, “I just don’t think about it.” I constantly ask myself, is this progressing for us? Was it a performance that demonstrated our growth? I believed it to be.
“With Bissouma, our organisation performed exceptionally well tonight, and judging from their front four, they will pose a threat to anybody.”
“Compared to Spurs’ 3-0 loss to Fulham, there was greater structural maturity.” You want to win football games, but I felt like the squad was moving in the right direction based on what I saw.”
How there was no way to conclude an end-to-end game
Mohammed Kudus had a great chance to give West Ham the lead early in this London derby after some superb work down the left saw him cross for Bowen in the box, but the England international lost sight of the ball and missed from close range.
That proved to be important because Spurs seized the lead less than a minute later. Timo Werner was fed by Yves Bissouma down the left, allowing the German to penetrate the box and find Johnson a few yards away. The Spurs winger knew where the net was, unlike Bowen.
Kudus saw another close-range attempt deflected over from a corner, and West Ham equalised from a similar set piece as the Hammers rallied.
With plenty of room to manoeuvre, Zouma reached the front post and unmarked met Bowen’s corner, the defender nodding the ball home with the back of his head.
In an exciting first half, Pedro Porro and Rodrigo Bentacur missed wide for Spurs, while James Ward-Prowse tested Vicario’s gloves with a 30-yard free kick as both teams had opportunities to take the lead again.
As West Ham looked for an early second in the second half, it ended where it had begun. Lucas Paqueta flashed a drive just wide from the edge of the box, but Vicario was equal to Antonio’s drive and Mavropanos’ header from the next corner.
Antonio had the best opportunity of the match at the hour mark when he grabbed a long ball forward and managed to hold off Micky van de Ven to run all the way clear. He could only blast the ball into the goalkeeper’s midrift with Vicario to beat.
As the second half wore on, Spurs increased the pressure. Porro put the West Ham custodian to the test, and Heung-Min Son, who had been remarkably silent throughout the match, sent a shot that sailed wide of Fabianski’s near post.
The last significant opportunities of the game came after 93 minutes of play. After a loose ball found its way to Udogie in the area, he had a clear view of the goal but was only able to strike Fabianski’s midrift.
Then, with West Ham pressing at the other end, Antonio’s flick found Bowen in the box, but with Vicario closing in, he was unable to locate the far corner. There was a point to be made up.
Ange: Our forwards were not thinking clearly.
Ange Postecoglou, manager of Tottenham:
“We had excellent overall control throughout the game. It’s a challenging area to go because they sit deep and make things difficult for you. You kind of know that you need to approach them calmly and with extreme discipline since they pose a threat at all times.
“For the most part, we handled it quite effectively. We gave up on one set piece, but overall, we performed well with our set pieces.
There was a little bit of a mental fog in the front third. Although we could have achieved far better results in some areas, overall, I was really pleased with the play.
It’s only football; they [the attackers] are human. If I had a joystick, I could tell them where to go!
“Playing against a team like West Ham is not easy. I sometimes feel like we have more time than we realise. We could have been in certain locations when the ball was flashed across the box at certain occasions.”
Moyes is happy with West Ham’s record this season against Spurs.
David Moyes, manager of West Ham:
“In the end, the draw was most likely fair. We performed admirably once more, with superior defensive play tonight compared to the previous weekend. We had to be at our best to stop a very strong Tottenham team, and we looked dangerous when it mattered.
“On defence, we were far more tenacious and forceful. All in all, I would have shook your hands and said “thank you very much” if you had given me four points against Spurs this season. Overall, this season’s results against Tottenham have been rather decent.
“They definitely made us work hard too. Tonight, we had a lot of ball chasing to do. However, I’m looking for a team that can work through the minutes even when they don’t have the ball. Who knows, maybe we’ll need it in the upcoming weeks when we’re injured.”
Analysis: The Spurs are having set-piece issues.
In their 1-1 draw with West Ham, Tottenham’s manager Ange Postecoglou pointed to his forward line’s lack of “clarity of thought” in crucial situations, but perhaps more attention has to be paid to the other end of the game.
Kurt Zouma ascended unmarked in the area to head in the equaliser, giving Spurs their eleventh set-piece goal of the season. With five of the six poorer teams in the division being relegation hopefuls, that record is the sixth worst in the division.
When it comes to Expected Goals surrendered from set plays, Postecoglou’s team is likewise among the bottom three. In this section, it’s defending the relegation standard.
Guglielmo Vicario, the custodian, was singled out during set plays during Spurs’ FA Cup defeat to Manchester City in January and again during the team’s 2-2 draw with Everton the following week.
In Postecoglou’s first season at Spurs, his team is struggling with a persistent problem that cost them two more points at West Ham.