WEST HAM BURST SPURS’ TITLE BUBBLE
LANZINI STRIKE PUTS CHELSEA ON THE BRINK OF PREMIER LEAGUE GLORY
AT the former Olympic Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur failed to scale the heights and with this shuddering defeat their Premier League title challenge faded.
Faded and almost certainly died against West Ham, who produced a full-blooded performance for their under-pressure manager Slaven Bilic and in doing so finally secured their own top-flight status.
How delicious for West Ham that they ended Spurs’ dreams even if in doing so they helped deliver the title to another bitter London rival, Chelsea, who can now go seven points clear with just three games to play if they beat Middlesbrough at home on Monday and then could win the league at West Brom next Friday before Spurs even play again.
A third successive London derby was simply too much for Spurs as they saw their impressive run of nine league wins in a row come to an end.
Fortune went hiding last night even if West Ham were deserved winners through the outstanding Manuel Lanzini.
It was feisty. Kyle Walker, recalled in place of Kieran Trippier, despite the doubts over his Tottenham future with Manchester City hovering, was cautioned for a challenge on Lanzini.
If that appeared harsh then Mark Noble was fortunate to only see yellow as he dived in and caught Eric Dier very late. The fact Dier quickly got to his feet maybe saved the home captain.
But no quarter was given. There were further mistimed challenges, overcommitted tackles and it felt like the kind of full-on derby Bilic had called for in his pre-match rallying cry.
There were chances, also, with West Ham figuring first as Walker caught out of position as Andre Ayew spun and played a cross-field pass that gave Lanzini a run on goal. However the Argentinian snatched at it.
Then Spurs threatened and should have scored with West Ham goalkeeper Adrian spilling Harry Kane’s low shot, Jose Fonte blocking Dele Alli’s follow-up and then Adrian saving superbly with an outstretched leg as Kane drove the ball goalwards once again. From the corner Adrian beat out Dier’s powerful angled header.
If Adrian was heavily involved, then so was Hugo Lloris with West Ham again exploiting the space behind Toby Alderweireld, with Walker once more too far upfield, as Noble clipped a lofted pass forward for Lanzini to sprint on to.
Lloris came hurtling from goal, marginally getting to the ball first with his knee but then clattered into Lanzini. As West Ham demanded action from referee Anthony Taylor, the play continued and Cheikhou Kouyate made a hash of trying to chip the ball into the unguarded net.
The incidents cranked things up even further. This meant so much to Spurs but was also vitally important to West Ham. Make no mistake, Bilic’s role is under scrutiny. The club will review his position at the end of the season, and a strong end to a frustrating campaign will help his cause.
Although Spurs had the majority of possession – 65pc – they still appeared unusually vulnerable and West Ham continued to carry a threat and threw themselves into challenges.
West Ham did not appear to be a team who had won just once in their last 11 games, just as Spurs did not appear to be a side going for the title.
The stats showed that West Ham attempted 16 tackles during the first half and succeeded in just one of them. But they had knocked Spurs out of their stride. Mauricio Pochettino needed more from his team but decided against making a change. Not yet.
But as the second half unfolded it was West Ham who threatened first with Sam Byram cutting the ball back to Ayew who, on the edge of the area, side-footed high over the bar when he had to do better. As should have Jonathan Calleri when he collected the ball, chested it down but then overhit a simple pass which would otherwise have set Ayew through on goal.
For Spurs another chance finally arrived when Son Heung-min was played in behind Aaron Cresswell and he pulled the back for Christian Eriksen, who shot tamely.
Finally, Kane was involved with a sharp first-time pass to Eriksen which quickened the pace of the counter-attack and with the ball moved on to Son who forced a fine low save by Adrian.
But just as Pochettino decided to change it, calling on Mousa Dembele, replacing Jan Vertonghen, it was West Ham who scored, with Cresswell’s deep cross turned back into the area by Bryam. Ayew’s shot was blocked but the ball broke to Lanzini who gleefully slammed it home from close range.
Spurs appeared stunned. Calleri should have ended it as Alderweireld dawdled inside his own area with the striker stealing the ball away and finding the space to drill a shot that was superbly turned away by Lloris.
Spurs pushed. They had to. But it was not happening for them. Passes went astray, West Ham threw their bodies on the line and the minutes ran down.
Finally the home side had a big scalp in the league in this ground. Spurs wanted to demolish it to build a new stadium here. Instead this is where their title hopes collapsed. (© Daily Telegraph, London)