West Ham 1-0 Tottenham: Antonio winner vaults Hammers into top four after edging a lacklustre Spurs
Harry Kane had contributed very little and Michail Antonio not much more by the time this derby devoid of urgency drifted into its final 20 minutes and the focus settled upon them.
West Ham were on the attack and Kane was responsible for marking Antonio as Aaron Cresswell delivered a corner, expertly as ever. There was a flurry of activity at the near post and a blur of bodies, before the ball somehow evaded everyone and landed at their feet.
Antonio proved too strong for Kane, pinned him back, stabbed in his seventh goal of the season from just a few yards out and launched into another of his wild and fabulous celebration routines, this time echoing Neo from The Matrix with arms wheeling and his spine arching back.
Michail Antonio uncorked one of his crazy celebrations as West Ham won the London derby against Tottenham on Sunday
Antonio muscled Harry Kane out of the way to tap in Aaron Cresswell’s superb looping cross into the box in the second-half
Spurs struggled to muster up the enthusiasm to fight for an equaliser and Kane once again looked to be disinterested
And that was it. The instinct of a forward won the day. Antonio sniffed out his goal. Kane could not repel the threat. One set-piece was the difference in an otherwise strangely flat and forgettable contest.
But the jubilant roar which erupted at the final whistle illustrated neatly how victory was all that mattered to the home side; like an explosion of joy and relief from fans unaccustomed to going into such fixtures as favourites.
West Ham climbed above their visitors in the Premier League table with a reminder of what they have been showing for some time — that they are a cohesive team, well balanced, resilient and spirited.
They will unite and dig out points if they have to, which is what they did here and with Antonio in the team they can conjure up goals and send their supporters home happy.
There has been a lot made about the ‘West Ham way’ over the years and, well, the fact is it doesn’t matter too much if you keep winning. Lose and it’s different. Lose the games that matter most, derbies for example, and the flak starts to fly.
Tottenham have lost four London derbies out of four this season, well beaten by Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Arsenal. And now West Ham. These are the only games Nuno Espirito Santo has lost in the Premier League since his arrival but it is not a happy formula.
Certainly not when his team perform with little ambition or fluency, and with no evidence of extra freshness in their legs despite his decision to spare the first team the midweek trip to Vitesse Arnhem.
Spurs shuffled the ball around at a sluggish tempo, unable to quicken the pace, and there was little fire on display, aside from a brief flashpoint when Cristian Romero dumped Pablo Fornals on the turf and followed it up with a few choice words to spark an angry reaction and a skirmish of pushing and shoving.
Back-to-back defeat for Spurs against Vitesse and the Hammers is a blow to Nuno Espirito Santo hopes of a turnaround
The east Londoners started fast but Spurs took charge towards the end of the first-half and the beginning of the second
More often, the affair was subdued and Kane continued to cast an isolated and rather forlorn figure up front, failing to dispel the general feeling his prolific eye for goal is not being maximised in this system and, if truth were told, that he would rather not be there.
The England captain managed only 17 touches in the first 45 minutes at the London Stadium and only one inside the West Ham penalty area, albeit that single touch that nearly gave his team the lead.
He peeled away at the far post to climb above Creswell and meet a cross from Sergio Reguilon with a powerful header. It was Tottenham’s best effort of the first half but Lukasz Fabianski was able to push it over.
Fabianski had already denied Son Heung-min, who accelerated clear of Angelo Ogbonna after a neat exchange of passes with Lucas Moura.
At the other end, Tomas Soucek missed West Ham’s best chance before the interval. Soucek seemed certain to score as he towered above Reguilon to reach a cross from Fornals, only to nod wide.
Antonio fired off target in the first half, too, but he pounced when it mattered.
Kane was desperate to leave the north Londoners in the summer but scored his first goal of the season against Newcastle
David Moyes’ side looked organised and resolute after going ahead and easily held off Spurs for a London derby victory
Tanguy Ndombele played some nice passes but couldn’t have the impact expected on him as Spurs lacked a cutting-edge
Thomas Soucek had several big chances but couldn’t find the target as Spurs allowed crosses into the box far too easily
Fornals caught Reguilon in possession just outside the Tottenham penalty box and forced a save from Hugo Lloris, who turned the shot over. From the corner, Antonio held Kane at bay, scored his first goal for nearly a month and West Ham took the lead.
It was a snapshot of two strikers in different places. One full of confidence, on a roll, up on his toes and thinking at speed about what might come his way; the other on his heels, not quite himself or entirely at ease.
As these strikers personify their teams to such a degree, it is a snapshot of two sides with little between them in terms of Premier League points but locked in different moods.
They were separated by one goal from one set piece — but this was West Ham’s day by some distance.
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