Spurs too much for Moyes’ boys
at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Harry Kane lay flat on his front, spread-eagled, panting. He rolled on his back, still breathing heavily. Strikers always insist it doesn’t matter who scores. This little vignette suggested otherwise.
It was 2019 when Kane last scored for Tottenham. Injury, and Covid-19, intervened and he looked strangely subdued against Manchester United last week. nothing like a fixture against West Ham to lift the funk, though, and so it proved. Tottenham were already leading when, in the 82nd minute, Kane caught West Ham on the hunt for an equaliser.
The counter-attack moved swiftly, culminating in a lovely Son Hueng-min pass that sent Kane through from just inside the West Ham half, with a yard on his pursuers. He doesn’t miss those, but the relief was palpable.
Jose Mourinho predicted Kane would score, but that might have been as much down to what he knew about his opponents, as what he knows of his man.
Just as good teams find ways to win, bad teams find ways to lose. Tottenham are not particularly good at the moment, but West Ham are most certainly bad. They have restarted as they finished, conspiring against themselves as they creep nearer the precipice.
They did at least attempt to achieve a result, which was an upgrade on Saturday’s performance against Wolves.
The best moment of play in a drab first half was that which led to a Tottenham strike a minute before the break. However, it was ruled out for a legitimate, but narrow, offside.
Giovani Lo Celso cut a lovely diagonal ball from a congested area outside the penalty area to Son on the left, inexplicably given room by ryan Fredericks.
He ended up on his backside as Son sped past. He shot, inside the near post, which startled Lukasz Fabianski and gave Tottenham the lead they just about deserved.
not for long, though. The dreaded Var check revealed Son had a foot in an offside position. and yes, we all know, you are either offside or you’re not. So it was the correct decision.
equally, the ball is either over the line or it’s not, and that didn’t seem to trouble Var half as much at Villa Park last week. Might be an idea to clear up the absolute travesties before we embark on calls that cannot be instantly identified with the naked eye.
Having kept Tottenham at bay for much of this match, West Ham succumbed to a 64th minute goal that owed much to random misfortune and little to the best laid plans of Mourinho.
Granted, it was a good corner from Lo Celso on the right, swinging in and attacked by Davinson Sanchez and Lucas Moura simultaneously.
One of them got a slight touch — some claimed handball, but it was not clear — which deflected the ball onto Tomas Soucek.
He was a January transfer window buy, bought to keep West Ham up. ah well. The ball struck his shin and ricocheted past Fabianski. It wasn’t much, but it was enough.
So Tottenham gain the ground needed to keep them in touch with the battle for Champions League football, West Ham lose further ground on those scrambling to avoid calamity.
Before Kane scored, Jarrod Bowen hit a post, but the end result did not flatter Tottenham.
West Ham do not appear to know where their next goal is coming from, let alone their next win. It’s Chelsea next. TOTTENHAM (4-2-3-1): Lloris; Aurier, Sanchez, Dier, Davies; Sissoko, Lo Celso; Moura (Bergwijn 72), Alli (Lamela 59), Son (Winks 86); Kane. Subs not used: Gazzaniga, Fernandes, Sessegnon, Ndombele, Vertonghen, Alderweireld. Booked: Davies, Kane. WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Fabianski; Fredericks, Balbuena, Diop, Cresswell; Soucek, Rice; Bowen, Noble (Anderson 71), Fornals (Lanzini 71); Antonio. Subs not used: Randoplh, Ogbonna, Wilshere, Ajeti, Silva, Johnson, Yarmolenko. Booked: Fornals, Noble. Referee: Craig Pawson. Man of the match: Son Heung-Min.