West Ham United 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur (7 Dec, 2023) Game Analysis

Tottenham Hotspur's inability to convert leads into points in the Premier League returned with a vengeance in a 2-1 home defeat to West Ham United as their winless run extended to five matches on Thursday.

West Ham were completely dominated in the first half in which Cristian Romero scored on his return from suspension to give Tottenham an early lead, but goals from Jarrod Bowen and James Ward-Prowse turned the derby on its head in the second half .

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Bowen equalized after 52 minutes after a rebound fell his way before a Ward-Prowse scored a bizarre goal in the 74th minute following an error from Destiny Udogie.

Tottenham now lead 1-0 in five consecutive games, but have only taken one point from the 15 available and they only had themselves to blame by letting West Ham get away with it. 'affair.

West Ham, now unbeaten in six games in all competitions, comfortably absorbed late pressure from Tottenham and held on for a victory that moved them to within three points of their London rivals.

Tottenham remain in fifth place with 27 points, but all their early season promise is fading. West Ham are ninth with 24 points.

For all the praise for Tottenham's eye-catching style since Ange Postecoglou took charge, they desperately needed a win to get their league campaign back on track.

They attacked their opponents with relish with an incredible 92% possession in the first 10 minutes which took place almost entirely in West Ham's half.

It was Romero's red card a month ago against Chelsea that precipitated Tottenham's downfall, but the Argentine began to redeem himself by meeting Pedro Porro's corner with a header that flew away from Lukasz Fabianski and nestled in the net.

With West Ham strangely passive, it fell to Tottenham to emphasize their superiority, but they were too elaborate at times, although Fabianski had to make careful saves to keep out shots from Giovani Lo Celso and Brennan Johnson.

West Ham's Lucas Paquetá headed horribly wide when he should have equalized just before half-time and it was a warning that Tottenham failed to heed.

Seven minutes after the break the visitors were level when a shot from Mohammed Kudus deflected past two Spurs defenders and fell invitingly to the feet of Bowen who fired a shot past Guglielmo Vicario to become only the Premier's third player League to score in seven minutes. consecutive away matches.

It changed the complexion of the match, with Tottenham fans beginning to have a nagging sense of deja vu.

Tottenham then self-destructed when Udogie's casual back pass put goalkeeper Vicario in trouble and although he blocked Bowen's initial effort, the ball bounced back to Ward-Prowse.

His first effort from an open goal hit the post, but it bounced straight at him and he made no mistake the second time asking to send the West Ham fans into delirium.