Premier LeagueWest Ham United 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Tuesday, 2nd April 2024
by James Haley
'Captain Kurt' Zouma's first half equaliser was good enough to earn a respectable 1-1 draw against Spurs at the London Stadium.
The Hammers had the first chance of the game as Mohamed Kudus nicked the ball of Pedro Porro and crossed low, which found Jarrod Bowen. But the England international couldn't adjust his legs in time to direct it towards goal.After a slow start Spurs soon got back into the game and scored the opening goal with just four minutes on the clock, as Timo Werner got away from Vladimir Coufal and crossed to find Brennan Johnson who tapped in from close range.
Tottenham continued to have most of the ball but failed to make it count, as the West Ham defence held strong. The Hammers would equalise as on the 19th minute Jarrod Bowen's whipped corner hit the back of Kurt Zouma and went into the back of the net.
The game started to calm down as Tottenham continued to attack but failed to make any real impact. James Ward-Prowse then had a chance to score from a free-kick, but it was comfortably parried by Guglielmo Vicario.
Chances in the first half were otherwise few and far between, but two goals scored which meant that both teams would be looking to win the game in the second half.
Like the first half, West Ham had the first chance of the second period as Rodrigo Bentancur gave the ball away to Ward-Prowse who laid it off to Michail Antonio, but his shot was easily saved by Vicario.
That chance led to a corner which was taken by Bowen and met by a towering header from Konstantinos Mavropanos, which was once again excellently saved by Vicario.
The West Ham domination continued as Bowen set up Lucas Paqueta on the edge of the box. The Brazilian, enjoying a productive evening turned Bentancur and fired an attempt just wide of the top left corner.
Then came the best chance of the game, as Paqueta won the ball from James Maddison. It fell to Ward-Prowse who played a ball over the top from his own half to Antonio. The Hammers striker got the better of Micky Van de Ven but failed to get any power on the shot, which went straight into the keeper's hands.
The game then had another period of Spurs domination, but no real chances were created apart from Yves Bissouma curling one wide of the post.
The most exciting part of the game was in the final minutes of added-on time. Wes Ham broke and Tomas Soucek chipped the ball into Bowen, who played the ball across goal. Sadly no-one was on hand to tap in and it was cleared by Spurs.
Tottenham responded by going up the other end but the attack was halted by Soucek, whose clearance found Paqueta. The midfielder cut inside and chipped it over the defence for Antonio, but the striker couldn't get the ball under control, the chance was lost and the game ended in a draw.
As exciting as it had been, the last few minutes of the game were not representative of the rest of the match which was mainly uninteresting, with Spurs failing to break down West Ham's low block and West Ham failing to make the most of their opportunities.
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Click to view all West Ham United vs Tottenham Hotspur match reports Click to view all match reports by James Haley Like to share your thoughts on this article? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.Player Ratings
Lukasz FabianskiSolid performance from the second keeper who was never really troubled.
Vladimir Coufal
Should have done better to deal with Timo Werner for the opening goal but kept him quiet for the rest of the game.
Emerson Palmieri
Should have tracked Johnson better for the first goal.
Kurt Zouma
Wasn't exposed by the Spurs' quick attack and took his goal well from the corner.
Konstantinos Mavropanos
A decent performance from the Greek as he kept the Tottenham attack quiet.
Tomas Soucek
He is not Edson Alvarez but he has filled in that role well in the two games he has played.
James Ward-Prowse
Worked hard but didn't do anything else to impact the game.
Lucas Paqueta
Didn't dictate the game like he normally would but his defensive work rate was impressive.
Jarrod Bowen
Great corner delivery but was kept quiet by Destiny Udogie who was excellent.
Mohammed Kudus
A decent performance from the Ghanian who was the main creative force of our attack.
Michail Antonio
Without him, our attack does not function and today he was great against a very good defensive partnership in Romero and Van de Ven.
Substitutes
Joseph AnangDid not play.
Ben Johnson
Did not play.
Aaron Cresswell
Did not play.
Angelo Ogbonna
Did not play.
Kalvin Phillips
Did not play.
George Earthy
Did not play.
Maxwel Cornet
Did not play.
Danny Ings
Did not play.
Divin Mubama
Did not play.
Match Facts
West Ham United: Lukasz Fabianski, Vladimir Coufal, Emerson Palmieri, Kurt Zouma, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Tomas Soucek, James Ward-Prowse, Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus, Michail Antonio.Goals: Kurt Zouma 19 .
Booked: Michail Antonio 0 .
Sent off: None.
Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van der Ven, Udogie, Bissouma (Højbjerg 82), Bentancur (Sarr 70), Johnson (Lo Celso 90), Maddison (Kulusevski 70), Son, Werner (Richarlison 82).
Subs not used: Austin, Drăgușin, Davies, Emerson Royal.
Goals: Johnson (5).
Booked: Van de Ven, Bentancur, Johnson, Romero.
Sent off: None.
Referee: John Brooks .
Attendance: 62,469.
Man of the Match: Kurt Zouma.