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Tottenham Hotspur 0 West Ham United 1 | Talking Points

West Ham became the first team to beat Tottenham at their new stadium with a persistent defensive and attacking performance that rewarded them with a 1-0 win.

Neither side were able to gain an advantage in the first half, with Lucas Moura’s low driven shot the closest we came to a goal, gliding just wide of the post. Spurs have not been one for scoring first-half goals this season, but they failed to score in either half on the day, lacking the execution to finish off some creative moves and eventually ruing not having the cutting edge to slice apart West Ham.

The Hammers’ goal came in the 67th minute when Arnautovic threaded a pass through to Antonio, who thumped across goal to bag the first away goal at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Spurs came agonisingly close to an equaliser with virtually the last touch of the ball – Balbuena denied Janssen from snatching his first goal of the season with a clearance off the line.

West Ham came away with the three points to aid them in their fight for finishing in the top half, while Spurs’ defeat means their fight for the top four will continue in the remaining two matches.

West Ham’s sheer persistence wins the day

The grit and spirit of West Ham’s performance led to their deserved victory, in both an attacking and defensive sense. Their game plan involved a lot of effort and a commendable attitude to what’s a hugely difficult game on paper. They handled Spurs’ attacks very effectively while maintaining a mostly frequent barge of attacks on the opposition goal themselves.

Issa Diop in particular had an excellent match, making six interceptions and three crucial blocks, and denying Spurs any clear cut chances with his tackling and positioning. His late surge forward was synonymous of West Ham’s desire to take the game to Tottenham right up until the last minute.

West Ham more than matched Tottenham on the shots front, with Pellegrini perhaps sensing a chance to capitalise on another lethargic Spurs performance, telling his players to take risks in order to try and take all three points, which they did expertly.

Creativity with no execution for Spurs

A lack of sharp finishing or passing entailed a frustrating afternoon for Spurs. Some good forward moves usually ended in a loose pass or a shot off-target – the creativity and vision was all there, but the execution was missing.

On a couple of occasions, it looked like Spurs could outnumber the West Ham defence, but the ball ended up getting stuck under someone’s feet, or back in the away side’s possession due to a sloppy pass. Perhaps a tough schedule in recent weeks has led to a lack of fitness in the squad, compounded by some unfavourable injuries to top players like Kane and Sissoko.

With Son suspended for their Champions League meeting with Ajax on Tuesday, playing him for 90 minutes on the weekend wouldn’t come with any cost for Pochettino. However, the South Korean displayed the most surprising drop of quality on Saturday and was unable to get behind the West Ham defence for almost the entire match.

Lukasz Fabianski a standout performer

West Ham’s man between the posts is a strong contender for the club’s player of the season this campaign. Although Saturday’s clean sheet was only his sixth of the season, Fabianski has made the most saves in the Premier League this season – 12 more than any other keeper. When called upon, the Polish international smothered all of Spurs’ opportunities and kept the clean sheet intact.

At 34 years old, Fabianski should be past his prime by now but, as with other keepers in the league such as Ben Foster, he has shown that experience could outweigh fitness when it comes to his trade. Due to his excellent positioning on Saturday, he was never required to make any extravagant saves and was able to protect his goal simply by being in the right place at the right time.

Fabianski is becoming a Premier League veteran, having previously played for Swansea and Arsenal, yet he is getting the credit he deserves this season. The Polish keeper has made a strong case to be considered the goalkeeper of the season in many people’s minds, and almost certainly one of West Ham’s best players this campaign.

A timid top four battle

As things are panning out, no one seems to be taking charge in the top four battle, with Spurs the latest culprits to drop points and compromise their Champions League hopes for next season. Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United have all been guilty of dropping points to teams lower than them in the table  and none of them have managed to capitalise on the misfortune of the others.

Perhaps complacency has had an impact on the mentality of these teams, or perhaps they are all going through some torrid results at the same time by sheer coincidence. Results of the other teams around them could be allowing Spurs players to get ahead of themselves and take their position in the league for granted.

Now however, Pochettino’s men, although just about in the driving seat for a top four finish, have a real test ahead. If they can lose to a West Ham team with next to nothing to fight for, they can certainly lose to Bournemouth and Everton, the latter of whom have seventh place to try and achieve.

West Ham after something to cheer for

West Ham have been sorely lacking from any real reason to get excited in the last three seasons, Hammers fans have had little more than a League Cup quarter final to cheer about, with mid-table being a steady finishing position year on year. An inconsistent season has lead to a similar situation this year.

However, with a host of evidently talented players like Felipe Anderson and young prodigies like Declan Rice all under the management of Premier League winner Manuel Pellegrini, West Ham should have a decent shot at the Europa League places next season and/or a potentially fruitful cup run. Now Pellegrini has had a season to work out his players’ strengths, West Ham should be well set up for a fight for the top seven.

Inconsistencies will need to be ironed out though and a little bit of summer spending certainly wouldn’t do any harm, especially with Arnautovic not overly content to be playing at West Ham United. Their short term goal in their remaining two games though is to finish in the top half and victory against Tottenham certainly made this possible.

Man of the Match – Issa Diop

Diop swept up whenever Spurs started to look dangerous and played a huge role in achieving a rare away clean sheet. The Frenchman put his body on the line on multiple occasions and was the best defender on the pitch on the day.

Harry Mahon

90maat's team correspondent for Tottenham Hotspur, graduate of Loughborough University and current student at the University of Surrey.

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