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Tottenham vs West Ham a few quick thoughts

  • Tottenham’s hopes of a perfect festive period were foiled last night at the hands of West Ham
  • After three successive wins it can only be deemed as two points dropped at Wembley as David Moyes’ men continue their resurgence
  • The former Manchester United and Everton manager had obviously gone there with a game plan and it is one that almost worked perfectly
  • With no Marko Arnautovic and Andy Carroll only on the bench it was down to Javier Hernandez to cut a lone furrow up front
  • It was almost a helpless task as the Mexican international was swallowed up by Jan Vertonghen and Davinson Sanchez every time he got the ball
  • That nullified West Ham’s apparent goal threat but at the same time it just didn’t click for Tottenham
  • Whether the fact that they played on Tuesday was a factor can be argued but then again you would have to put the Hammers in the same boat
  • They lacked the ability to transition quickly when West Ham did try and move forward and at times the build up look laboured
  • Not only that but the final ball was lacking or misplaced when it really mattered
  • Harry Kane had another quiet night, although he did have the ball in the net as early as the 16th minute only to see it ruled out for offside.
  • Eric Dier had a first half shot which ended up in the airspace of Heathrow airport
  • While Moussa Sissoko controlling of a football was just bizarre, any credit he may have built up over the weeks and months was almost eroded after his performance last night
  • After 45 minutes, West Ham would have been far the happier of the two teams as they had managed to keep the score at 0-0
  • This was not necessarily that David Moyes had identified as one that they could win but at the same time a point would still be welcome
  • After the restart it was going to be a big 45 minutes for Tottenham as they looked for the breakthrough
  • Only it was more of the same after the break, with the lack of Plan B once again proving to be the club’s Achilles heel on the night
  • Not only could they struggle to find the breakthrough but they would then find themselves one nil down
  • Pedro Obiang had the ball 35 yards out and had plenty of time and an open invitation to shoot
  • It may have been speculative but it was absolutely sensational
  • A hammer blow in every sense
  • West Ham’s first shot on goal, a real smash and grab and they found themselves in front
  • Not only that but a win would take them all the way up to 11th in the table, so now they had 20 minutes in which to hold out
  • Tottenham going behind meant that Mauricio Pochettino had to roll the dice but even the first two subs would do all that much to really change their mentality
  • The arrival of Erik Lamela and Victor Wanyama aimed to give them some extra impetus as they now needed two goals to win
  • And with eight minutes to go they found one of them
  • If Obiang’s goal was a perfect then the Heung min-Son’s was nine and a half
  • The South Korean was 30 yards out and hit his effort perfectly past the ailing Adrian, right in the postage stamp and right back in the game
  • With Fernando Llorente also on the pitch it was like the Alamo as Tottenham surged forward in the search for a winner
  • But try as they might they failed to break down a resolute West Ham
  • They weren’t helped by referee Mike Dean either who on another night could have given one of two penalties
  • Then again maybe Tottenham used up their luck with the officials on Tuesday night after beating Swansea
  • West Ham would hold out for a spirited point that sees them move up to 15th
  • While Tottenham are now three points behind Liverpool in the race for fourth

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