SPURS TOAST LAM ERIK’S MATURED AND IS RELAXED, SAYS POCHETTINO

AT the start of the season, few Tottenham fans could have imagined Erik Lamela would be the man stepping up to share the goal burden with Harry Kane.

Son Heung-min and Dele Alli, perhaps, but not their Argentine team-mate.

Such is Lamela’s red-hot start to the season, however, that he is just one strike shy of Kane and it was his goal here, his fifth in eight games, that settled the London derby in favour of Spurs.

It was a victory Tottenham deserved, just.

They were much the better side in the first half but had to defend solidly after the break when West Ham finally came alive.

That they managed to keep the Hammers at bay owed so much to the performance of Hugo Lloris. Three times he kept out Marko Arnautovic, the East Enders’ talisman and the only player in claret and blue who ever really looked like scoring.

“Hugo was fantastic,” said boss Mauricio Pochettino.

“In the first half we were better than West Ham.

“Always when it’s a derby it’s so competitive and so emotional and it was a fantastic atmosphere.

“But in the first half maybe we deserved to go to half-time with one or two more goals.

“In the second half, West Ham pushed the lines and were so competitive and aggressive.

“They were very good and made us suffer a little bit more than I would have liked.

“But it is an amazing victory for us, three points that keeps us in a very good position.”

That clean sheet helped continue Spurs’ best start to a Premier League season with seven wins in nine.

Unsurprisingly, Pochettino was pleased with the contribution of Lamela, who has had to deal with some tough injuries during his time in England.

Pochettino added: “This is his sixth year here and he is more mature.

“That is the key, he is more relaxed and calm in front of goal. Now he has to be more consistent and playing his best.

“We have to manage him in the best way because we need to understand where he came from.”

For West Ham, this was a sixth defeat in nine – they have also drawn a game – and that mini-revival at the end of last month seems a while ago now.

The fact they lost this game also extended their unwanted record of failing to secure backto-back home wins since December 2016. To add to their troubles, the Hammers lost Andriy Yarmolenko, who twisted an ankle when his right boot appeared to get stuck in the turf.

Spurs took the lead just after Yarmolenko’s exit and shortly before the interval when Moussa Sissoko picked out Lamela with a fine, floated cross.

Lamela was in space and he glanced his effort neatly past Lukasz Fabianski.

It was to the keeper’s credit that Spurs didn’t double their advantage before the break with a double stop denying Lamela’s cross-shot and Davinson Sanchez’s follow-up.

West Ham were a different side when they reappeared and, within minutes, Lloris had to be alert to deny Arnautovic’s clever header.

The French keeper then kept an eye on an Arnautovic shot which deflected slightly off Kieran Trippier before making it a hat-trick of saves with a brave stop at the striker’s feet in stoppage time.

Substitute Michail Antonio still had time for one last effort but he blazed over and Spurs held on.

West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini (right) said: “We played a very good game in the 90 minutes.

“The first 45 were more equal but we were playing against Tottenham, maybe one of the best teams in this moment.

“In the last 45 minutes, there was just one team in the game.

“We dominated, had possession of the ball, created chances.

“But in this game you must score and if you don’t take the chances it is very difficult to win.”