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West Ham 1-0 Tottenham: Antonio winner lifts Hammers into top four

  /  R47

West Ham lifted themselves to fourth in the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Tottenham as Michail Antonio’s goal proved the difference.

2021/2022 Premier League

1-0

Match Report

Antonio struck with 17 minutes remaining as he met Aaron Cresswell's fierce corner from the left, meaning West Ham have now scored 18 goals via set pieces since the start of last season.

The response from Spurs was non-existent following the goal with Nuno Espirito Santo's team failing to register a shot on goal in the second half as their run of two straight victories came to an end.

The victory sends the Hammers above Spurs in the table with the north Londoners now suffering four straight defeats in London derbies.

How Antonio punished timid Spurs...

Both teams arrived knowing a win would take them into the top four and it was West Ham that started like the team fuelled by that motivation.

Hugo Lloris had to be very alert in the opening exchanges to flick a corner away from Kurt Zouma's head and palm away an acrobatic effort from Pablo Fornals. With Antonio causing his usual havoc down both channels, West Ham were carving out good opportunities but struggled to take them as Fornals fired off target - as did Tomas Soucek moments later.

Spurs then arrived in the game with Lucas Moura spurning a glorious opening from eight yards out on 20 minutes after some fine running in behind from Heung-Min Son. The South Korean striker spun in behind again minutes later but couldn't find a way past Lukasz Fabianski from a tight angle.

West Ham continued to pose a threat when enjoying territory in the Spurs half and Soucek really should have opened the scoring from five yards out but thumped a header wide of the post.

Spurs almost edged ahead before the break but Harry Kane's header from a tight angle produced a top save from Fabianski, who tipped the ball over the crossbar.

Despite no goals, the game ebbed and flowed in exciting fashion after the break. Sergio Reguilon flashed a dangerous ball across West Ham's six-yard box but Oliver Skipp was the furthest man forward and his timing was off that far up the pitch.

The Hammers had plenty of the play but didn't seriously test Lloris until 71 minutes. Fornals showed great tenacity to win the ball back from Reguilon and his deflected drive had to be helped behind by the fingertips of the French goalkeeper.

Spurs wouldn't survive the following corner though.

Cresswell provided the quality from the left and Antonio was left unmarked about eight yards out. Spurs just stood and watched as West Ham's top scorer in Premier League history poked home from close range.

Nuno's side still had 17 minutes to stage some sort of a fightback but with Kane non-existent, their lack of guile and firepower in the final third was noticeable as they put the Hammers under no pressure.

In the end, it was a comfortable three points for David Moyes' men.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

1' Kick-OFF! who can win this match?

7' CHANCE! Lloris denied Fornals' shot

13' Saucek shot over the bar

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20' Yellow Card! Soucek booked

24' Close! Son's shot stopped

33' Close! Saucek's header wide out

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42' CHANCE! Febianski denied Kane's head ball

52' Febianski denies Skipp's effort

59' Yellow Card! Romero booked

71' GOAL! West Ham 1-0 Tottenham (Antonio)

82' Lloris makes good save

Line-ups

West Ham XI: Fabianski, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Antonio, Zouma, S. Benrahma, Soucek, Bowen, Rice, Fornals, Ben Johnson

Subs: Noble, Yarmolenko, Dawson, Areola, Lanzini, Masuaku, Vlasic, Diop, Harrison·Ashby

Tottenham XI: Lloris, Son, Lucas, Kane, Hojbjerg, Dier, Ndombele, Reguilon, Romero, Skipp, Aparecido

Subs: Ben Davies, Alli, Sanchez, Gollini, Bergwijn, Lo Celso, J. Rodon, Tanganga, Gil