Home Win Still Proves Elusive
When Tottenham Hotspur appointed Thomas Frank in the summer, it looked as though there would be a change in the club’s fortunes and that is so far proving to be the case, as they have now won three out of the first four games, thanks to a 3-0 win over West Ham United in Stratford on Saturday.
Graham Potter only made one change from the team that won 3-0 away at Nottingham Forest before the international break, as Crysencio Summerville replaced Niclas Füllkrug. The German dropped to the bench, where he was alongside fellow striker Callum Wilson. Mateus Fernandes retained his place from the victory at The City Ground to make his home debut, while Tomáš Souček was able to make his 250th appearance for the club.
Soungoutou Magassa, Andrew Irving and latest summer recruit Igor Julio were included amongst the substitutes, as were Alphonse Areola and the returning Łukasz Fabiański. Youngsters Freddie Potts and Luis Guilherme were also in the matchday squad.
There were suggestions that defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka was due to replace Kyle Walker-Peters in the starting line-up but the former Crystal Palace and Manchester United man had pulled out of the team earlier in the day because of stomach issues.
Frank’s side lost at home to AFC Bournemouth back on August 30 and they certainly wanted to atone for that performance whilst Potter’s men were looking to build on the success that ultimately saw Tricky Trees’ Head-Coach Nuno Espírito Santo lose his job. To be fair, both sides were up for the occasion and made a bright start.
Just as he did in the opening stages against Chelsea in their last home encounter, Lucas Paquetá should have put his side ahead with fourteen minutes gone but he failed to make the most of a decent opportunity, following good team play from Walker-Peters, Fernandes and captain Jarrod Bowen.
The majority inside the stadium thought that they were made to pay for missing that chance when Cristian Romero got his head on a corner from Mohammed Kudus, the man who left West Ham for Spurs in the summer, but fortunately they were given a reprieve after referee Jarred Gillett disallowed the effort for a foul by Micky van de Ven on Walker-Peters. The home faithful were wanting a favour from VAR official John Brooks and they got it, as he agreed with the on-pitch decision.
Although Kudus wasn’t much of a goal threat, his corners were causing problems for his former club and the Australian referee was to rule in favour of the hosts again when the Ghanaian winger sent another dangerous delivery into the box. Both Fernandes and van de Ven went up to meet it and the Dutchman thought he had been fouled but no offence was given against the former Southampton midfielder.
The visitors may have gone into the break in front, had it not been for a instinctive save from goalkeeper Mads Hermansen to prevent Romero from opening the scoring.
After a short stoppage time period at the end of the first-half, Gillett brought an end to proceedings with the deadlock still to be broken.
There was more pain for the home supporters when the action resumed, as their team went behind. Another corner was awarded to Frank’s men and although Kudus remained on the pitch, new signing Xavi Simons took responsibility for the set-piece. Slack defending from the visitors allowed Pape Matar Sarr to beat Hermansen.
In fairness to the East Londoners, they then had chance to find an immediate leveller but unfortunately, Bowen sent an early shot wide when the action resumed.
It was then Guglielmo Vicario’s turn to be put under pressure but unfortunately, he came out on top each time as Bowen, El Hadji Malick Diouf and Max Kilman all tried their luck.
As if conceding the first goal to their fierce rivals on forty seven minutes wasn’t bad enough, just seven minutes later, Potter’s side were down to ten men when Souček tried to control the ball but his first touch wasn’t great, meaning he lost possession and in his frustration, he committed a dangerous challenge on Bayern Munich loanee João Palhinha. Gillett had no hesitation in giving the influential Czech a straight red card meaning he will now miss the games against Crystal Palace, Everton and Arsenal.
From then on, the Hammers struggled to cope with their opponents, who had been given a big boost and were now relentless!!!
It was a measure of just how much the sending off had affected the home side, as less than two minutes later, Lucas Bergvall had further increased the advantage for the away side.
Having lost Souček, Potter decided to make a double change just after the hour mark. He introduced Magassa to take the place of Fernandes, while Guilherme came on for Summerville.
The Irons’ Head-Coach might have regretted making his changes too late because just minutes after he did so, van de Ven wrapped up the points when he received possession from Bergvall.
Shortly after, West Ham shuffled their pack for a third time and brought on Wilson to take the place of Paquetá.
Five minutes of stoppage time were added at the end of the encounter, and just after the added period had been announced to the rapidly disappearing crowd, Potter made a fourth alteration, as Irving entered the fray for James Ward-Prowse.
The disappointment of not being able to find a home win since February continues until next week at least when another London derby comes up on the horizon, as Oliver Glasner’s Eagles swoop into the East End.