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West Ham United 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur: Hammers climb to fourth

By Matthew HowarthBBC Sport
Michail Antonio, West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur
Michail Antonio's sixth league goal of the season opened the scoring at London Stadium

West Ham moved into the top four of the Premier League with a narrow victory over Tottenham that increases the pressure on Spurs manager Jose Mourinho.

Michail Antonio - back in the Hammers' starting line-up after a two-game absence - gave the hosts the perfect start, poking home after Hugo Lloris had failed to deal with Jarrod Bowen's cross.

Jesse Lingard's third goal in four league games was initially disallowed for offside against Pablo Fornals.

But VAR ruled that the Spaniard was not interfering with play when the Manchester United loanee skipped through the visiting defence before powerfully finding the far corner to make it 2-0.

Half-time substitute Gareth Bale, who registered a goal and an assist in Tottenham's Europa League win at Wolfsberger on Thursday, set up Lucas Moura to give Spurs hope, before hitting the top of the crossbar with a fierce strike 10 minutes later.

Son Heung-min also struck the woodwork in stoppage time.

The win - David Moyes' first over Jose Mourinho in 16 attempts - lifts West Ham two points clear of Chelsea in fifth, while Spurs remain in ninth.

In-form Hammers grind out win

Moyes recently admitted to feeling "uneasy" when discussing the Hammers' place near the top of the table, but that is unlikely to die down following their seventh win in nine league matches.

West Ham looked much sharper from the off and deservedly took an early lead through Antonio, whose pace and physicality caused the Spurs defence all sorts of problems in the opening exchanges.

Moyes' side limited Tottenham to just two shots on target before the break - both of which came in the final minutes of the half - and they made the perfect start to the second period when Lingard combined with Fornals before lashing beyond Lloris to continue his recent revival having swapped red for claret and blue.

However, the hosts had their backs to the wall for the rest of the game as Spurs increased the urgency, with Moura's header from Bale's cross setting up a nervy finish.

They rode their luck when Vladimir Coufal's clearance struck Son before looping over Fabianski and onto the outside of the post, but few could begrudge Moyes's team all three points.

West Ham face both Manchester clubs, Leeds and Arsenal in their next four league matches. If they can emerge from those fixtures relatively unscathed, it could set the platform for an exciting end to the campaign for Hammers fans.

Sluggish start costs Spurs

Reports on Sundayexternal-link suggested Mourinho's job could be at risk if Spurs failed to beat West Ham, and the Portuguese's team could hardly have made a worse start at London Stadium.

Mourinho will have been furious at the manner of the Hammers' opener, as Eric Dier failed to clear Bowen's in-swinging delivery before Lloris' fumble allowed Antonio to prod home.

The goal seemed to drain the confidence out of Spurs' players, who looked desperately short of ideas until Kane tested Fabianski's reflexes late in the first half.

Lingard's strike left the visitors with a huge task but the introduction of Bale - a half-time replacement for Lamela - soon paid dividends.

The Welshman's corner was flicked in off the post by Moura to reduce the arrears, before the Real Madrid loanee skimmed the top of the crossbar from the edge of the area.

Kane - left out of Thursday's win in Budapest for fitness reasons - also went close from the edge of the box and Son almost salvaged a draw in bizarre circumstances, but it was not to be for Tottenham.

The result leaves Spurs nine points behind the fourth-placed Hammers, although they do have a game in hand on their London rivals.

Antonio, West Ham's fox in the box - the stats

  • Tottenham Hotspur have lost five of their last six league games (W1), only picking up points in a 2-0 home victory against West Brom in this time. Their eight league defeats this season are Jose Mourinho's most since 2015-16 with Chelsea, when he was sacked after nine league defeats.
  • Mourinho took charge of his 50th Premier League game with Tottenham today (W23 D12 L15). The 81 points Spurs have picked up under the Portuguese is 14 fewer than he's managed with any other side throughout his first 50 league games in charge (Man Utd, 95).
  • West Ham will spend a night in the top four places in a top-flight campaign after at least 25 matches have been played, for the first time since 1985-86, when they finished the season in third.
  • West Ham's Michail Antonio has scored 42 Premier League goals and they have all come from inside the box - in the competition's history, only Tim Cahill (56), Javier Hernandez (53) and Gabriel Jesus (45) have scored more with all of them coming from inside the box.
  • Antonio has scored five Premier League goals against Tottenham Hotspur, his best return against any single side in the competition.
  • Jesse Lingard has scored three goals in four league games under David Moyes for West Ham, as many as he netted in his 36 total league appearances under Ole Gunnar Solskjær at Man Utd.

'It was a big, big ask' - what the managers said

West Ham boss David Moyes speaking to BBC MOTD: "It is a great result for us. Today we felt it was a big, big task. Tottenham are one of the top sides and have fantastic players. For us to get a result and keep our momentum going is really good.

"There was a period we could have gone 2-0 up when we went 1-0 up and we didn't take it, so that allowed Tottenham to grow in confidence as the game went on."

On Jesse Lingard's impact: "Players want to play. They want to show what they can do. It wasn't long ago Jesse was an England international so I knew if we could get that level of player, it would improve us."

Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho speaking to BBC MOTD: "The way we finished the game showed it was not a physical problem that stopped us having a result.

"I think we did [have enough to win]. Losing 1-0 at half-time you have to lift the players and play better in the second half, which we did.

"You are playing against a team that fought in the second half. They defended - we attacked and created and were unlucky."

What's next?

West Ham travel to runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City on Saturday, 27 February (12:30 GMT), while Spurs host Burnley the following day (14:00 GMT).

Player of the match

SoucekTomas Soucek

with an average of 8.23

West Ham United

  1. Squad number28Player nameSoucek
    Average rating

    8.23

  2. Squad number11Player nameLingard
    Average rating

    8.20

  3. Squad number41Player nameRice
    Average rating

    7.90

  4. Squad number30Player nameAntonio
    Average rating

    7.88

  5. Squad number15Player nameDawson
    Average rating

    7.81

  6. Squad number1Player nameFabianski
    Average rating

    7.65

  7. Squad number5Player nameCoufal
    Average rating

    7.64

  8. Squad number23Player nameDiop
    Average rating

    7.62

  9. Squad number3Player nameCresswell
    Average rating

    7.36

  10. Squad number20Player nameBowen
    Average rating

    7.36

  11. Squad number18Player nameFornals
    Average rating

    7.33

  12. Squad number9Player nameBenrahma
    Average rating

    7.16

  13. Squad number31Player nameJohnson
    Average rating

    6.86

  14. Squad number16Player nameNoble
    Average rating

    6.60

Tottenham Hotspur

  1. Squad number9Player nameBale
    Average rating

    6.24

  2. Squad number27Player nameLucas Moura
    Average rating

    5.09

  3. Squad number20Player nameAlli
    Average rating

    4.39

  4. Squad number7Player nameSon Heung-Min
    Average rating

    4.35

  5. Squad number11Player nameLamela
    Average rating

    4.30

  6. Squad number5Player nameHøjbjerg
    Average rating

    4.28

  7. Squad number28Player nameNdombele
    Average rating

    4.26

  8. Squad number3Player nameReguilón
    Average rating

    4.20

  9. Squad number10Player nameKane
    Average rating

    3.88

  10. Squad number25Player nameTanganga
    Average rating

    3.84

  11. Squad number2Player nameDoherty
    Average rating

    3.80

  12. Squad number6Player nameD Sánchez
    Average rating

    3.52

  13. Squad number15Player nameDier
    Average rating

    3.29

  14. Squad number1Player nameLloris
    Average rating

    3.05

Line-ups

West Ham

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 1Fabianski
  • 5Coufal
  • 15Dawson
  • 23DiopBooked at 62mins
  • 3Cresswell
  • 41Rice
  • 28SoucekBooked at 56mins
  • 20BowenSubstituted forBenrahmaat 65'minutes
  • 11LingardSubstituted forNobleat 90+4'minutes
  • 18FornalsBooked at 72minsSubstituted forJohnsonat 82'minutes
  • 30AntonioBooked at 69mins

Substitutes

  • 4Balbuena
  • 9Benrahma
  • 10Lanzini
  • 14Alves
  • 16Noble
  • 25Martin
  • 31Johnson
  • 35Randolph
  • 45Odubeko

Tottenham

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 1Lloris
  • 25TangangaSubstituted forDohertyat 45'minutes
  • 6D Sánchez
  • 15Dier
  • 3ReguilónBooked at 44minsSubstituted forAlliat 77'minutes
  • 28Ndombele
  • 5HøjbjergBooked at 42mins
  • 27Lucas Moura
  • 11LamelaBooked at 36minsSubstituted forBaleat 45'minutes
  • 7Son Heung-Min
  • 10Kane

Substitutes

  • 2Doherty
  • 4Alderweireld
  • 8Winks
  • 9Bale
  • 12Hart
  • 17Sissoko
  • 20Alli
  • 33Davies
  • 45Alves Morais
Referee:
Craig Pawson

Match Stats

Home TeamWest HamAway TeamTottenham
Possession
Home31%
Away69%
Shots
Home4
Away20
Shots on Target
Home4
Away4
Corners
Home5
Away7
Fouls
Home14
Away7

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, West Ham United 2, Tottenham Hotspur 1.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, West Ham United 2, Tottenham Hotspur 1.

  3. Post update

    Foul by Lucas Moura (Tottenham Hotspur).

  4. Post update

    Tomas Soucek (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  5. Substitution

    Substitution, West Ham United. Mark Noble replaces Jesse Lingard.

  6. Post update

    Attempt missed. Son Heung-Min (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Eric Dier.

  7. Post update

    Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  8. Post update

    Foul by Jesse Lingard (West Ham United).

  9. Post update

    Corner, Tottenham Hotspur. Conceded by Issa Diop.

  10. Post update

    Attempt missed. Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Dele Alli.

  11. Post update

    Attempt missed. Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Matt Doherty with a cross.

  12. Substitution

    Substitution, West Ham United. Ben Johnson replaces Pablo Fornals.

  13. Post update

    Lucas Moura (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick on the right wing.

  14. Post update

    Foul by Tomas Soucek (West Ham United).

  15. Post update

    Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur) hits the bar with a left footed shot from outside the box. Assisted by Harry Kane.

  16. Substitution

    Substitution, Tottenham Hotspur. Dele Alli replaces Sergio Reguilón.

  17. Post update

    Sergio Reguilón (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  18. Post update

    Foul by Jesse Lingard (West Ham United).

  19. Post update

    Attempt missed. Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Lucas Moura.

  20. Booking

    Pablo Fornals (West Ham United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

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As It Stands

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Man City24175249153456
2Leicester25154644271749
3Man Utd24137450311946
4West Ham25136639291045
5Chelsea25127641251643
6Liverpool25117745341140
7Everton2412483733440
8Aston Villa23113937261136
9Tottenham24106837271036
10Arsenal24104103125634
11Wolves2596102632-633
12Leeds24102124043-332
13Southampton2486103140-930
14Crystal Palace2485112742-1529
15Burnley2577111830-1228
16Brighton2451182530-526
17Newcastle2474132540-1525
18Fulham25410112132-1122
19West Brom2528151955-3614
20Sheff Utd2532201541-2611
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