Spurs bounce back with goal spree against West Ham

Tottenham Hotspur scored three goals in eight second-half minutes to beat 10-man West Ham United 4-1, bouncing back after throwing away a two-goal lead and losing to Brighton & Hove Albion before the international break.

Mohammed Kudus put West Ham ahead early on, only for Dejan Kulusevski to level towards the end of an entertaining first half.

Ange Postecoglou surprisingly withdrew James Maddison at half-time, but that change paid off as Spurs swiftly pulled clear.

Yves Bissouma swept home in the 52nd minute. Then goalkeeper Alphonse Areola scored an own goal in the 55th minute, before Son Heung-min struck the third goal in the 60th minute that settled the contest.

To add to West Ham’s woes, Kudus was sent off late on as they drop to 15th in the Premier League table with eight points from as many matches, while Spurs go seventh with 13.

How the match unfolded

The visitors struck first in the 18th minute when Jarrod Bowen showed great tenacity to keep an attack alive before crossing for Kudus, who scored at the far post.

Brennan Johnson was guilty of a glaring miss when he nodded Destiny Udogie‘s cross wide, but Spurs did level in the 36th minute, Kulusevski’s strike hitting both posts and crossing the line despite West Ham goalkeeper Areola getting fingertips to it.

Pedro Porro sent a scissor kick wide shortly before half-time, but Spurs’ relentless pressure was rewarded soon after the interval with Bissouma side-footing in after excellent combination play from Son and Udogie.

Spurs’ third goal came in fortuitous fashion as Son’s shot deflected off Jean-Clair Todibo and Areola before squirming over the line. But there was no luck about their fourth goal as the South Korean raced through to fire home.

Son clipped the foot of the post one minute later, and West Ham’s miserable outing was capped when Kudus saw red for violent conduct.

Postecoglou’s change pays off

Coming after a 3-0 rout of Manchester United at Old Trafford, Spurs’ 3-2 defeat at Brighton last time out led many to describe Postecoglou’s style as reckless, rather than entertaining.

However, for as bad as Spurs were in the second half at Amex Stadium, they were excellent after the break here, with a surprise half-time switch the catalyst.

Maddison played a key role in Kulusevski’s leveller, capitalising on a West Ham turnover to drive over halfway and find the Swede near the right corner of the box, yet he did not emerge for the second half as Postecoglou chose to introduce Pape Sarr.

That substitution proved a masterstroke, allowing Kulusevski to operate in a No 10 role to devastating effect.

His clever reverse pass played in Son to force the own goal, while it was Sarr who provided the assist when Son made it 4-1 on the hour-mark, his pinpoint pass allowing the Spurs skipper to drive at Areola and arrow his finish inside the near post.

Postecoglou now has a selection headache ahead of next week’s trip to Crystal Palace, with Kulusevski staking his claim for a central role and Sarr bringing fresh energy to the midfield.

No lift-off for Lopetegui

Having thrashed Ipswich Town 4-1 prior to the international break, West Ham were eyeing their first back-to-back Premier League victories since March.

The Julen Lopetegui era appeared to have lift-off when Kudus gave them a surprise lead against Spurs, the winger scoring for a second straight match, but the Hammers’ defence began to creak under constant pressure and they could have no complaints when Kulusevski equalised.

In the second half, West Ham simply failed to lay a glove on their hosts. Bissouma was granted the freedom of the penalty area to score Spurs’ second goal, and the subsequent mix-up between Areola and Todibo summed up the visitors’ performance.

To add to Lopetegui’s frustrations, Spurs’ third goal came just as he was readying a triple substitution in a bid to turn the tide.

In the end, West Ham were arguably fortunate to limit their hosts to four goals, with Kulusevski, Johnson and Timo Werner all passing up late chances. Johnson also should have scored in the opening period.

To make matters worse for West Ham, they will also be without key attacker Kudus for matches against Man Utd, Nottingham Forest and Everton following his late dismissal.

Club reports

Spurs report | West Ham report

What managers said

Ange Postecoglou: “We had to fight hard in the first half. Going a goal down wasn’t ideal but we clawed our way back into it, and it is not easy. West Ham are a big physical side and they have got some speed as well.

“Second half we were outstanding. We upped the tempo and played some quality football, defended when we needed to and got our finishing right.”

Julen Lopetegui: “First of all we are very disappointed for our fans. The summary is that they [Tottenham] deserved to win to be fair. We started well and we deserved to take the lead despite their two big chances. We defended well, attacked well and had more chances too.”

Next Premier League fixtures

Key facts

Since the start of last season, Tottenham have won eight of the 12 home Premier League games in which they have conceded first (L4) this is at least twice as many home wins after falling 1-0 behind as any other side in the competition in this time.

This was West Ham’s heaviest Premier League defeat in a game which they scored the opening goal since January 2013, when they lost 5-1 at Arsenal.

Tottenham have kept just one clean sheet across their last 19 home Premier League games (a 4-0 victory over Everton in August), while Spurs’ one clean sheet on home soil in 2024 is the joint-fewest shutouts among ever-present sides in the competition (alongside Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Wolves).

Since the start of last season, only Sheffield United (seven) have conceded more own goals in the Premier League than West Ham (five), while Tottenham have benefitted from more own goals than any other side in the competition across that period (seven).