Tottenham Hopes at Top 4 Dip as they Lose to West Ham by 1 Goal

Tottenham blew the chance to cement their top four spot as London rivals West Ham became the first away side to win at their new ground.

Michail Antonio’s second half strike prove enough to earn Manuel Pellegrini’s a 1-0 victory and end Spurs’ perfect start to life at the Tottenham Hostpur Stadium.

With all of their rivals not playing until tomorrow – Chelsea and Manchester United against each other – Spurs could have opened up a seven point lead over fifth placed Arsenal with victory, but could now see the gap closed to a point by the end of the weekend.

Spurs were without Jan Vertonghen, left out with a slight muscle injury ahead of the Champions League clash with Ajax on Tuesday, while Danny Rose started in midfield.

West Ham, meanwhile, had Manuel Lanzini and Aaron Creswell out, with Issa Diop and Ryan Fredericks coming into the side as the only two changes from the 2-2 draw with Leicester.

The visitors began well, with Declan Rice fizzing over from range, before Felipe Anderson wasted a glorious opening, sidefooting straight at Hugo Lloris from a tight angle with two teammates screaming for it in the middle.

Spurs soon gained control however, as Son Heung-Min forced Lukasz Fabianski into a near-post stop after being sent through by Dele Alli, before Lucas Moura sent a low drive just wide.

Diop twice made crucial penalty box interventions, though the second almost ended up gifting Spurs the opener, as his interception cannoned off Son and into the path of Christian Eriksen, who had to be thwarted by a sharp block from Fabianski.

There was a scare right on half-time, when Anderson’s strike took a deflection off Toby Alderweireld, but thankfully for Spurs, did not divert enough to beat a wrong-footed Lloris.

Arnautovic, woefully anonymous in the first half, began the second with a little more impetuous, testing Lloris with a low strike after an outrageous piece of control to turn away from Rose.

Son had a half-hearted penalty appeal waved away, though he perhaps should have shot rather than checking back inside Arthur Masuaku in the first place, before Mauricio Pochettino sent for Fernando Llorente.

The big Spaniard had been on the pitch for less than a minute, though, when Arnautovic, transformed since the interval, clipped in for Antonio to control brilliantly on his chest before firing home to become the first visiting player to score on this ground and give West Ham the lead.

Spurs rallied, and it took a superb last ditch block from Fredericks to deny Llorente, while Vincent Janssen was also sent into the fray, but it was the Hammers who came closest to adding to the score late on.

Antonio almost found a second at the end of a solo break, before Diop channelled his inner Franz Beckenbauer with a marauding run through the heart of the Spurs side, only to scuff his finish when one-on-one with Lloris.

source:Independent