West Ham relegation fears grow after defeat at Spurs
LONDON (Reuters) – West Ham United’s hopes of avoiding relegation suffered a cruel blow as an own-goal by midfielder Tomas Soucek and Harry Kane’s first goal since December condemned it to a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday.
The visitors were fortunate just before halftime when VAR ruled out Son Heung-min’s goal for offside, but their luck deserted them after the break at an empty Tottenham Stadium.
When a corner was swung over in the 64th minute the ball appeared to brush the arm of Tottenham’s Davinson Sanchez before bouncing off Soucek’s leg and spinning past helpless ’keeper Lukasz Fabianski.
West Ham responded well and Jarrod Bowen was denied an equalizer by the upright before Kane was played through on goal by Son’s pass and beat Fabianski with a trademark finish.
Defeat left West Ham above the relegation zone on goal difference from Bournemouth, which has a game in hand.
West Ham manager David Moyes said his side was better than in the 2-0 defeat by Wolverhampton Wanderers at the weekend and was convinced Tottenham’s opening goal should have been ruled out.
Tottenham’s first win in eight matches over all competitions kept them in the hunt for a Champions League qualification berth. Jose Mourinho’s side is seventh with 45 points, one behind fifth-place Manchester United.
Mourinho’s first game in charge after taking over from Mauricio Pochettino was a 3-2 away win at West Ham in November.
The atmosphere that day was in contrast to Tuesday’s behindclosed-doors return, although the stakes were massive for both clubs for different reasons.
No wins in four Premier League games had seen Tottenham overtaken in the battle to qualify for the Champions League while four defeats in five Premier League games had left West Ham in serious danger of relegation.
Yet the first half of what is usually a feisty derby was devoid of goalmouth incident until just before halftime when Son cut in and arrowed a low shot past Fabianski, but had strayed marginally offside.
Lucas Moura then wasted a great chance, firing well wide after being picked out by Ben Davies.
Heartened, West Ham started the second half well and Pablo Fornals wasted the best chance early, scuffing wide when unmarked in front of goal.
It proved a decisive moment as Soucek’s blunder sent West Ham on the way to a seventh successive away Premier League defeat for the first time since 2006.
Moyes blasts schedule
Meanwhile, Moyes hit out at the Premier League schedule after his side’s defeat on Tuesday.
Moyes was not happy his side had been asked to play twice in four days while Tottenham had enjoyed an extra day’s rest.
“I told the Premier League that we don’t play for eight days [after Tuesday], why could we not have played Wednesday or Thursday night,” he told reporters.
“It’s a terrible decision from the Premier League and the broadcasters haven’t helped either.”
The 92 remaining top-flight fixtures are being squeezed into five weeks.
Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho sympathized.
“To be honest, I don’t think it’s fair for West Ham to come here with 24 hours less to prepare than us. At the moment it is not nice,” he told reporters.
Since Moyes arrived to replace sacked Manuel Pellegrini, West Ham has won just two of 12 Premier League games, and with Chelsea to play next, it is in desperate trouble.
Liverpool 30 Manchester City 30 Leicester City 31 Chelsea 30 ManchesterUnited 30 Wolverhampton 30 Tottenham Hotspur 31 Sheffield United 30 Crystal Palace 30 Arsenal 30 Burnley 30 Everton 30 Newcastle United 30 Southampton 30 Brighton & Hove 31 Watford 30 West Ham United 31 AFC Bournemouth 30 Aston Villa 30 Norwich City 30 27 2 1 83 20 3 7 63 16 7 8 55 15 6 9 51 12 10 8 46 11 13 6 46 12 9 10 45 11 11 8 44 11 9 10 42 9 13 8 40 11 6 13 39 10 8 12 38 10 8 12 38 11 4 15 37 7 12 12 33 6 10 14 28 7 6 18 27 7 6 17 27 7 5 18 26 5 6 19 21
Leicester City 0, Brighton & Hove Albion 0; Tottenham Hotspur 2, West Ham United 0.
Manchester United vs Sheffield United (late); Wolverhampton Wanderers vs AFC Bournemouth (late); Norwich City vs Everton (late); Newcastle United vs Aston Villa (late); Liverpool vs Crystal Palace (late).
Southampton vs Arsenal (live on Sport 1 at 8 p.m.); Burnley vs Watford (live on Sport 2 at 8 p.m.); Chelsea vs Manchester City (live on Sport 1 at 10:15 p.m.).