With focus firmly on European progression, Tottenham Hotspur still had a London Derby with which to contend. A trip to the other side of town to take on West Ham United was the task, and one which Spurs managed without any hint of excelling.
Ange Postecoglou rotated heavily as expected, with eight changes from Spurs’ win over Bodø/Glimt. Some of these seemed enforced, with some familiar faces missing through injury: neither James Maddison, nor Dominic Solanke made the matchday squad following knocks picked up in that match.
Things weren’t exactly silky smooth at the London Stadium, either. Both sides played like their positions on the table, and after a messy start during which it seemed like West Ham had the upper hand, the Hammers instead turned provider for the Lilywhites. Max Kilman failed to deal with a long ball down the left under pressure from Mathys Tel, with the Frenchman stealing possession and knocking a pass across the 18-yard box. His compatriot, Wilson Odobert, was on hand to gleefully accept and take a touch before passing it into the net past West Ham keeper Alphonse Areola.
It wasn’t long before a defensive calamity, this time from Spurs, resulted in another goal. Aaron Wan Bissaka strode forward with the ball in space, before playing a simple pass into Matt Bowen, whose run had been completely lost by Ben Davies. Bowen made his way to the right-hand corner of the six-yard box before knocking a shot through the legs of Vicario and bringing the scores level.
The second half felt even more pointless than the first. Both sides were playing like teams who didn’t really want to be there, but the stupor was occasionally interrupted by moments of brightness from both teams. Spurs’ best chance of the second 45’ stemmed from an excellent pass from Tel into Richarlison, who passed the ball across the face of goal with no fellow attacker making the run to meet it.
West Ham would have thought they went ahead late as well, with a James Ward-Prowse set piece curled into a dangerous area catching Guglielmo Vicario in two minds. A stooping Bowen flicked on the free kick towards goal, and Vicario was forced into a brilliant reaction save to keep things all tied up. Michael Oliver decided enough was enough and put the fans out of their misery with the final score 1-1.
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