Lloris delights Pochettino as Tottenham hold off West Ham
Mauricio Pochettino labelled Hugo Lloris as one of the “best goalkeepers in the world” after the Frenchman’s impressive display guided Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-0 victory at West Ham United yesterday.
Erik Lamela’s header in the first half proved to be the difference between the two sides as Tottenham claimed a seventh win from nine Premier League games to move up to fourth place, two points behind leaders Manchester City, who they face on October 29.
But it was Lloris who took centre stage for Tottenham. The French goalkeeper nade a string of fine stops, three of which came from Marko Arnautovic, to frustrate their London rivals.
Pochettino said: “In the first half we played very well and we deserved to score two or more goals. Hugo Lloris is one of the best goalkeepers in the world.”
The result keeps Tottenham firmly in the title picture but Pochettino said neither he nor his players were getting carried away with their start to the campaign. “We are realistic and should celebrate the position that we are in,” he added.
“We want to be responsible with our club, squad and players and manage circumstances and be professional.”
Manuel Pellegrini, the West Ham manager, was upbeat over his side’s efforts despite slipping to a second successive defeat. They lost to Brighton and Hove Albion before the international break and Pellegrini felt his side had responded well, even if they had not picked up any points.
“The last game we didn’t play well and improved in the second half but we still lost,” he said. “Today it was a very close game in the first half. The second half wasn’t complete because we didn’t score but we had chances.”
At the other end of the table, Cardiff City picked up their first win of the season as they came from behind to defeat Fulham 4-2.
Andre Schurrle’s long-range effort had given Fulham an early lead, but Cardiff bounced back to triumph.
Goals from Josh Murphy and Bobby Reid put them ahead, before Ryan Sessegnon equalised for Fulham.
But second-half goals from Callum Paterson and Kadeem Harris secured the points for Neil Warnock’s men and lifted them out of the bottom three at Fulham’s expense.
Warnock said: “We wanted to have a go at them and we did, everyone worked to the plan and on another day we could have got more but I can’t be too greedy. I can enjoy my weekend now.”
Newcastle United are bottom of the table, with just two points from nine games, after they were beaten 1-0 at home by Brighton.
Beram Kayal’s goal proved enough for Brighton to take the points and a frustrated Rafa Benitez said: “Today, we were in control, we had the chances, and they scored a goal from a corner that was not even a corner. After, they were just wasting time.”
Etienne Capoue and Roberto Pereyra ended Watford’s run of four games without a win as they triumphed 2-0 at Wolverhampton Wanderers, while Southampton and Bournemouth played out a goalless draw in their encounter.
Capoue and Pereyra ended Watford’s run of four games without a win as they triumphed 2-0 at Wolverhampton