West Ham’s hopes of finishing in the top four look to be over after they fell to a 3-1 loss away at London rivals, Spurs.
It was a scrappy and cagey start to the game, though in the ninth minute it was Spurs that took the lead. West Ham lost possession inside their own half before Harry Kane burst down the line and drilled a low pass into Son Heung-Min. The ball, however, hit Kurt Zouma before rolling past Lukasz Fabianski.
Son is so often the dangerman for Spurs with his pace in behind, and the South Korean struck the post minutes after the opener, before eventually doubling his side’s lead midway through the first half. Harry Kane once again dropped deep into midfield before threading a perfectly weighted through ball into the path of the 29-year-old, who raced in behind the Hammers defence, before his effort flew past Fabianski – the Polish ‘keeper deceived by another deflection off Zouma.
West Ham would pull one back just after the half-hour mark, a corner from the left being met by Craig Dawson, with the ball dropping to Said Benrahma at the back post who steered it home on the volley.
Both sides had chances in the second half, though with two minutes remaining it was Spurs who made sure of the points, and once again it was thanks to the Kane/Son link up. A simple kick upfield from Hugo Lloris was flicked on by the England captain whose header found his strike partner who had the freedom of North London as picked his spot to make it 3-1.
Speaking after the game, West Ham boss David Moyes praised Spurs attacking duo of Kane and Son, though couldn’t hide his disappointment for his side’s defending for the final goal of the game.
“I am more disappointed by the last minute from our centre-halves, if the under 12s did that you’d be disappointed,” he told BBC Match of the Day.
“Kane and Son were excellent, Kane was magnificent in the way that he played.”
The result leaves the Hammers six points adrift of the Champions League places, with fourth-placed Arsenal possessing two games in hand, though they do still have an opportunity to secure qualification after progressing to the Europa League quarter finals after beating Sevilla in midweek.
“We’ve had an incredibly good week, we really have. We won in midweek and that took out a lot of energy. The last team we wanted to play on Sunday was Tottenham.
“But if you want to be a big club and play in Europe you’re got to accept you’re going to play Thursday-Sunday. Or if you make it to the Champions League, Wednesday-Saturday.”
