West Ham United 1-1 Spurs
Premier League
Derby honours ended even at the London Stadium on Tuesday night as we played out an intense 1-1 draw with West Ham United.
Here is the key action from a rain-soaked evening in east London...
- An early breakthrough, Brennan Johnson netting after five minutes.
- Kurt Zouma levels it up from a corner on 19 minutes.
- Glorious second-half chance for the Hammers but Guglielmo Vicario denies Michail Antonio.
- Plenty of possession for us but few goalscoring opportunities.
We made the perfect start when Brennan Johnson opened the scoring early on before we were pegged back when Kurt Zouma netted in the 19th minute from a corner. Both sides had opportunities to win it in the pouring east London rain, the best falling for the Hammers but Guglielmo Vicario denied Michail Antonio while Destiny Udogie spurned a great chance to steal the points in the final seconds.
The game was a landmark one for skipper Heung-Min Son as he made his 400th appearance in our colours, just the 14th player to reach that tally for the Club since we joined the Football League in 1908.
We hadn’t scored in the first half in our last six games but blew that statistic away with the opening goal after just five minutes. Rodrigo Bentancur played a pass out wide to Timo Werner and his low cross from the left was turned in from six yards out by Johnson, his fifth goal for the Club.
It was a confident start and we were knocking the ball about well, Pedro Porro fizzing a shot just wide before Son tested Lukasz Fabianski with a right-footed drive. But the Hammers levelled it up in the 19th minute with a straight-forward equaliser, Jarrod Bowen delivering a corner which was met by the unmarked Zouma, the ball coming off his back and looping into the far corner.
We continued to dominate possession while the home side looked to punish us with counter-attacks but neither team really threatened. James Ward-Prowse hit a 30-yard free-kick which was on target but Vicario was across to punch well clear, while we finished the half with a flurry of corners before Bentancur drilled wide and we went in all square at the interval.
Vicario made a smart save to push away Antonio’s fierce drive three minutes into the second half while Lucas Paqueta whipped an effort wide moments later and, at the other end, James Maddison crashed a shot into Vladimir Coufal and Yves Bissouma fired wide as both sides looked to edge ahead in the game.
Then, Maddison appeared to be fouled on the edge of the box but play was waved on and a ball knocked over the top for Antonio. Micky van de Ven seemed to get back to recover the ball only to slip and leave the Hammers striker in on Vicario’s goal but the Italian keeper denied him with a crucial stop.
We were getting into some great positions down the flanks and some tempting crosses were being delivered but they weren’t getting the finishing touches they deserved. We were continuing to dominate the ball, however Fabianski wasn’t being tested in the Hammers goal although neither was Vicario as the second half was being played out mostly in front of the two defences.
One big moment fell our way 30 seconds from time, the ball landing at the feet of Udogie just 15 yards out after some patient build-up but his shot was straight at Fabianski and our chance of snatching the win disappeared.
Match data...
West Ham United (4-2-3-1): Fabianski, Coufal, Mavropanos, Zouma (c), Emerson, Soucek, Ward-Prowse, Bowen, Paqueta, Kudus, Antonio. Substitutes (not used): Anang, Johnson, Cresswell, Philips, Cornet, Ings, Ogbonna, Earthy, Mubama.
Spurs (4-3-3): Vicario, Pedro Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie, Bentancur (Sarr 70), Bissouma (Hojbjerg 82), Maddison (Kulusevski 70), Johnson (Lo Celso 90), Son (c), Werner (Richarlison 82). Substitutes (not used): Austin, Royal, Dragusin, Davies.
Goals: West Ham – Zouma 19; Spurs – Johnson 5.
Yellow cards: West Ham – Antonio; Spurs – van de Ven, Bentancur, Johnson, Romero.
Referee: John Brooks.
Venue: London Stadium.
Weather: Light rain, moderate breeze, 11 degrees.
Ange's verdict...
"It's always a tough game here, they've a big, strong team, they sit deep and don't allow you too much space and time. I thought for the most part we handled that pretty well. We scored a great goal and we had some more chances to replicate that, that we missed out on. Obviously, they then scored from a set piece, and they are such a threat from that, but I thought we handled the rest really well and defensively, their transition moments and counter-attacking, again, for the most part, we coped with. I just thought in our front third we lacked a little calmness and clarity. We got into some good areas and should have got some better outcomes. It's a bit of belief, a bit of learning, a better understanding from the guys in terms of when we get into those areas, the options we do have. Like I said, it's a difficult place to come, they're a tough team and the guys gave everything. I can't fault the effort of the lads tonight, we know we can be better in certain areas but at the same time, we handled a really tough team fairly well away from home."
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