It was a brilliant London Derby performance from Tottenham on Saturday lunchtime and ran out 4-1 winners against West Ham despite an early setback after Mohammed Kudus scuffed in an effort from a Jarrod Bowen cross. It took Spurs 18 minutes to level as Dominic Solanke battled hard to poke the ball into the path of James Maddison, and Maddison found Kulusevski who poked an effort on goal which Areola could only push onto the post, and after caressing both the right and left posts the ball found its way into the net to restore parity as Tottenham had dominated and created multiple chances from the likes of Brennan Johnson and Heung-Min Son.
Only 7 minutes into the second half, Tottenham hit the front foot as Yves Bissouma cleanly connected with the ball to strike home in front of the South Stand for the second time this season. The goal came from a lovely Heung-Min Son pass to Destiny Udogie who timed his run well and cut back to find the Mali International. A fortunate own goal happened 3 minutes later, but the build up between Son and Kulusevski was faultless. Son’s tame effort was parried by Areola into the path of Todibo who could do nothing but watch the ball crawl slowly over the line for 3-1. Sarr won the ball back and made a pinpoint pass to Son as West Ham were pushing to get back into the game and the captain made it 4-1 shortly after the third Spurs goal. West Ham fans were being bantered left right and centre as “West Ham get battered everywhere they go”, “no noise from the Pikey boys” and “cheerio cheerio cheerio” were among the chants that rung around the stadium to a relatively deserted away end.
The situation worsened for the Hammers as Mohammed Kudus attempted to turn the football match into a UFC match when he struck both Micky Van De Ven and Pape Matar Sarr in the face. There was only one option for VAR, and that was to send off Kudus, who was West Ham’s best player by far on the day. It was a moment that summarised the frustration the West Ham players contained after their second half collapse, and summarised the embarrassment of the West Ham fanbase by being proud of Kudus for his actions.
Tottenham sit 7th in the Premier League currently, and will be back in Europa League action now on Thursday night against AZ Alkmaar at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.