West Ham Utd 2-3 Tottenham H

  • by Staff Writer
  • Saturday, 23rd September 2017

West Ham's dreadful start to the 2017/18 campaign showed no signs of improvement today after they went down 3-2 at home to Tottenham.

And the stark truth is that the final scoreline flattered West Ham, who were distinctly second best from the moment Michail Anontio's enforced substitution midway through the first half - with the score at 0-0 and the Hammers in the ascendancy - arrived.

Instead of replacing the stricken winger with a like-for-like alternative, such as Andre Ayew, Slaven Bilic opted instead to utilise Andy Carroll - who was anonymous throughout and only served to slow down West Ham's attacking forays.

Embed from Getty Images


That gave the visitors the impetus to attack - and they took full advantage by roaring into a three goal lead.

Harry Kane opened the scoring on 34 minutes when nodding home a Dele Alli cross - a lead that was doubled within four minutes when the England striker grabbed his second of the day when firing into an empty net.

Christian Eriksen made it 3-0 to the visitors on the hour mark when a Harry Kane shot that hit the foot of the post found its way back to the Scandinavian, who found the same corner of Joe Hart's net.

The deficit was reduced to two five minutes later when Javier Hernandez, restored to his favoured central position found the net with a header inside the six-yard box following some good work from Jose Fonte.

And when Tottenham's Serge Aurier was dismissed for a sly and dangerous hack at Andy Carroll with 20 minutes of normal time remaining, it looked briefly as if the Hammers may be able to mount a most unexpected comeback.

Embed from Getty Images


West Ham, with the man adavntage pressed on in search of goals but had to wait until the 87th minute for the next to arrive. Substitute Arthur Masuaku delivered a perfect cross for Cheik Kouyate to power into the roof of Hugo Lloris' net to give the Hammers real hope of snatching a draw.

In the end, they were denied the opportunity to grab a point by Michel Oliver's inability to spot a blatant push on Andy Carroll as the big striker rose in the box to meet a corner. However had West Ham somehow managed to eke out a point from the game, it would have been more than they had deserved.

The defeat adds further pressure on to the embattled Slaven Bilic, whose team remain in the relegation zone with a sorry tally of just four points from six Premier League matches.

Embed from Getty Images


West Ham Utd: Hart, Reid, Fonte (Masuaku 73), Ogbonna, Zabaleta, Noble, Kouyate, Cresswell, Antonio (Carroll 28), Arnautovic (Ayew 66), Hernandez.

Subs not used: Adrian, Sakho, Byram, Rice.

Goals: Chicharito (65), Kouyate (87).

Booked: Chicharito, Ayew, Reid, Carroll.

Tottenham: Lloris, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Sanchez, Aurier, Dier, Eriksen (Winks 73), Davies, Alli, Sissoko (Trippier 78), Kane (Llorente 89).

Subs not used: Vorm, Son, Nkoudou, Walker-Peters.

Goals: Kane (34), Kane (38), Eriksen (60).

Booked: Aurier, Llorente, Dier.

Sent off: Aurier.

Referee: Michael Oliver.

Tickets sold: TBC.

* Something to say about this story? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.



More News