Tottenham miss chance to gatecrash top four as Ange Postecoglou's men held at West Ham
WEST HAM 1-1 TOTTENHAM: Brennan Johnson fired Spurs into an early lead at the London Stadium but Kurt Zouma levelled for West Ham to ensure a share of the spoils
The frustration and points were shared at the London Stadium.
In truth, it was a result which was probably of greater value to West Ham because it restored some pride after the bruising defeat at Newcastle just three days earlier.
And it was two points dropped for Tottenham who continue to leave the door open in the battle for the Champions League places with Aston Villa and Manchester United still very much in the mix.
Tottenham did not create many clear cut chances apart from Brennan Johnson’s fifth minute opener which says much about David Moyes’ determination not to get beaten.
After Kurt Zouma’s equaliser, West Ham manned the barricades, sat deep and played on the break with Michail Antonio wasting a gilt-edged chance on the counter attack.
Antonio’s miss was almost comical as Tottenham did their best to set him up and yet the West Ham No9 still could not take full advantage.
That feels like something of a reflection of West Ham’s season and yet they are still in Europe, they are still in the hunt for a European place with their league position and yet Moyes finds himself stuck in limbo.
West Ham fans are torn over Moyes but one thing that the Hammers boss does well is to set up a team which is hard to beat.
Incredibly, Tottenham have not won at West Ham in their last four visits and their last victory came in November 2019 in Jose Mourinho’s first game in charge.
They have come a long way since those days and Ange Postecoglou has made them fun to watch again even if it feels they are now limping over the line in a season full of promise.
Tottenham should make the Champions League and if they do that then it is job done and mission accomplished for Big Ange.
But it is nights like these which perhaps show they are still a work in progress with good players but they lack some quality in key areas.
West Ham’s biggest job this summer will be to keep hold of Lucas Paqueta as the Brazil midfielder looks a class apart and was behind everything good that the home side did.
Will Spurs finish in the top four? Have your say below.
Paqueta’s ding-dong battle with James Maddison was a highly entertaining sideshow but it was the Brazilian, with his extra strength and edge, who came out on top.
The natives have been restless at times this season and another defeat so soon after the Newcastle collapse - losing 4-3 having been 3-1 up - would have been unforgivable and Moyes did the only sensible thing with Kalvin Phillips which was to keep him on the bench.
But it did not look good for West Ham after five minutes when Spurs went ahead. Timo Werner found some space down the left, cut back a low cross and there was Brennan Johnson to fire home from close range.
It looked ominous and yet West Ham fought back. Jarrod Bowen put over a 19th minute corner, Antonio blocked off Guglielmo Vicario while Micky van de Ven lost his man and Zouma bundled the ball in.
The closest we came to a winner came on the hour. Paqueta challenged Maddison on the edge of the box. Spurs screamed foul but West Ham broke free, van de Ven fell over, Vicario went down early and still Antonio fired straight at the Spurs keeper.
What a chance. Destiny Udogie fired one late effort at Lukasz Fabianski and both teams went for it in added time but neither could find a way through.
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