The fact that Tottenham saw most of the ball came as little surprise. West Ham are built to absorb pressure and the longer this game remained locked at 1-1, the less likely it seemed that David Moyes would tell his side to gamble on chasing the goal that would have tightened their grip on seventh place.
Perhaps Moyes, drawing on that pragmatic streak, wanted to see some proper defending after West Ham’s collapse at Newcastle. It was over to Spurs to provide the incision during a tepid second half and the frustration for Ange Postecoglou was seeing his attack fall short. Pegged back by Kurt Zouma’s equaliser, Spurs did not create enough after Brennan Johnson’s early goal and were unable to draw level with fourth-placed Aston Villa. Manchester United will still see a chance to steal a Champions League spot.
The first talking point centred around whether it is possible for a counterpunching team to thrive without solid foundations out of possession. Defending has become difficult for West Ham in recent months, a record of one clean sheet in the league in 2024 a source of concern for Moyes, and it was far too easy for Spurs to cut through the middle when they went ahead after five minutes.
James Ward-Prowse and Tomas Soucek were not close enough to James Maddison when the playmaker popped up in a pocket of space. West Ham immediately pined for the security provided by their midfield enforcer, Edson Álvarez, who was missing through suspension again. Maddison, making the most of the absence of the player who maintains West Ham’s structure, had time to get Timo Werner running at Vladimir Coufal.
It was a mismatch. Werner went down the outside and Coufal, who struggled against Newcastle’s wingers last weekend, could not stop the forward from drilling in a low cross for Johnson to convert from close range.
The next 10 minutes were awkward for West Ham. Indecision set in and Spurs almost profited from an intense high press. Pedro Porro and Son Heung-min went close after errors from Lucas Paquetá and Coufal.
Yet West Ham had threatened at 0-0, Jarrod Bowen slicing wide from close range after Porro lost possession to Mohammed Kudus, and their physicality soon began to unsettle Spurs. Even Paquetá joined in, taking a moment out of his showboating to flatten Maddison with a cynical shoulder barge.
It was 1-1 by then, West Ham’s equaliser arriving when Spurs failed to deal with a corner. Bowen, a livewire on the right, won it by driving against Destiny Udogie and the visitors cracked when the England winger lifted the ball into the six-yard box. Guglielmo Vicario was pinned to his line by Michail Antonio, Micky van de Ven was ball-watching and nobody tried to stop Kurt Zouma’s leap, the ball bouncing off the defender’s back and into the net.
Now it was a proper derby. West Ham pushed, Ward-Prowse’s free-kick testing Vicario, but they were forced back at times. The speed of Johnson, starting after an impressive cameo against Luton, was a worry. Maddison was out for revenge after his clash with Paquetá and soon left the Brazilian in a heap.
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West Ham looked to step up at the start of the second half, Antonio drawing a fine save from Vicario after slack play from Rodrigo Bentancur, before Paquetá’s shot whistled just wide. Seeing the threat, Spurs responded. Johnson’s cross flashed through the six-yard box, Werner failing to gamble, and Maddison had a shot blocked by Coufal.
The possession statistics heavily favoured Spurs. West Ham sank back, waiting for openings on the break, and one appeared on the hour. Somehow, though, Antonio contrived not to take it. The striker raced from his own half after a raking pass from Ward-Prowse and barged Van de Ven out of the way, only to shoot straight at the exposed Vicario.
The long spells of Spurs dominance resumed, although they were finding it hard to pick their way through West Ham’s defence. Keen to vary the angles of his attack, Postecoglou turned to his bench, Pape Sarr and Dejan Kulusevski replacing Bentancur and Maddison with 20 minutes left.
West Ham had faded as an attacking force, leaving Kudus, Bowen and Antonio to feed off scraps. Moyes seemed content with a point and a show of resilience. There were a lot of clearing headers and blocks from Zouma and Konstantinos Mavropanos in central defence. Lukasz Fabianski, West Ham’s goalkeeper, did not have to do much. There were 12 shots from Spurs, including one from Udogie in added time, but only four were on target. Both sides lacked a cutting edge.