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West Ham United 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur

By on May 4, 2014

Ten man Tottenham slipped to their first defeat in just over a month as West Ham United completed a first league double over their local rivals since 1999.

In a match dubbed the P45 derby, Tim Sherwood will be feeling a lot less comfortable about his job security than under-fire West Ham boss Sam Allardyce who made certain of the Hammer’s Premier League status with a 2-0 win over Spurs.

Spurs started the brighter of the two sides and after just five minutes created the first clear cut chance of the match. Good work from Harry Kane found Gylfi Sigurdsson, and the Icelander played in Christian Eriksen who in turn laid it off to Emmanuel Adebayor. His tame shot caused little trouble for goalkeeper Adrian.

Yet the Hammers quickly settled into the game. Mark Noble’s corner whipped in from the left was headed away by Kyle Naughton, but only into the path of Guy Demel whose hooked shot fell on to the top of the crossbar and safely into the hands of Hugo Lloris.

The turning point in the game came midway through the first half. Noble’s strong tackle ricocheted off the shin of Christian Eriksen into the path of Stewart Downing, who found himself through on goal. Younes Kaboul took the decision to foul the winger just outside the box, and with no covering defender referee Phil Dowd had little choice but to send off the Frenchman. The resulting free kick was struck ferociously by Andy Carroll, stinging the palms of Hugo Lloris who managed to tip it over the bar. However, the following corner from Mark Noble found Andy Carroll unmarked at the far post. His powerful header deflected off Harry Kane and into the net, with Gylfi Sigurdsson unable to prevent the goal on the line.

The east Londoners doubled their lead two minutes before the break. Michael Dawson clumsily brought down Mark Noble on the edge on the box, and Stewart Downing’s poorly struck free-kick managed to find a gap in the wall, leaving Hugo Lloris helpless to prevent the ball from nestling into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

Sam Allardyce’s men dominated for most of the second half, with Spurs struggling to get a foothold in the game after going down to ten men. Stewart Downing’s cross five minutes after the break fell perfectly for Mohammed Diame ,whose acrobatic kick forced a brilliant double save out of Hugo Lloris.

The north Londoners rarely threatened the Hammer’s back line – T their only real chance of note coming in stoppage time. Danny Rose picked up the ball 25 yards from goal, went on a mazy run before unleashing a well struck right-footed shot which was brilliantly tipped over by Adrian. It was certainly a day to forget for everyone involved with Tottenham Hotspur. Unfortunately for Spurs fans, that is a phrase that has been used far too often this season.

About Callum Haymes

Aspiring sports journalist • Spurs ST holder. Personal blog at http://callumhaymes.blogspot.co.uk/