Kane left standing as Antonio wraps it up
HAMMER BLOW HITS SPURS
FLASH in a cross five yards from goal and who do you expect to react first – Michail Antonio or Harry Kane?
No disrespect to the West Ham veteran enjoying a rich Indian summer in his journeyman career around English football.
But surely you go for the World Cup and Premier League Golden Boot winner technically in the prime of his life? Yet, when precisely that scenario came up in the 72nd minute, the 31-year-old Antonio pounced with the split-second reactions of a teenager to score the winning goal while the Tottenham talisman marking him stayed inexplicably rooted to the spot.
That pretty much highlights where Kane’s form is for Spurs right now — missing at both ends of the pitch.
Furthermore, his failure to make any sort of impact in front of the West Ham goal either pretty much explains why Spurs continue to struggle just when they look like they are finally grinding into gear.
On the back of two successive wins, their counterattacking strategy allowed them to be largely dominant in the game. But they never looked like winning it. They were one-paced, predictable, slow to build stages of the game and with the exception of Lucas Moura, totally riskaverse. They did not dare, and they did not do.
West Ham, meanwhile – and nobody embodies this more than Antonio – are making the most of what they have. Declan Rice was overwhelming in midfield, Kurt Zouma showed a dominance at the heart of defence that never quite emerged in his many years at Chelsea.
Jarrod Bowen and Said Benrahma buzzed mischievously around Tottenham defenders making it hard to get out of their own half at times. And Aaron Cresswell can deliver the sort of set piece he did in the decisive 72nd minute. The moment when, quite simply, West Ham wanted it more.
Antonio’s celebration, left, was exuberant and when the final whistle finally arrived with Spurs doing very little to save the game, it was clear from David Moyes’ reaction that this felt like a big win. Nuno Espirito Santo desperately needs to find some way of delivering the same for Spurs.
WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Fabianski 7; Johnson 6, Zouma 8, Ogbonna 7, Cresswell 7; Soucek 8, Rice 8; Bowen 7 (Dawson 90), Benrahma 7 (Lanzini 84), Fornals 8; Antonio 8. Goal: Antonio 72.
TOTTENHAM (4-2-3-1): Lloris 7; Royal 6, Romero 6, Dier 6, Reguilon 5 (Gil 84); Hojbjerg 7, Skipp 7; Moura 7 (Bergwijn 90), Ndombele 6 (Lo Celso 84), Son 6; Kane 5.