West Ham 2 – Tottenham 1
LONDON, Dec 8: West Ham came back to secure a 2-1 win at Tottenham in the Premier League on Thursday and extend Spurs’ winless run to five games.
Second-half goals from Jarrod Bowen and James Ward-Prowse saw West Ham recover from going behind to an early header from Cristian Romero.
Defeat means Tottenham has now lost four and drawn one of its last five games — after having taken the lead in all of them.
The slump has dropped Ange Postecoglou’s team from first to fifth, while West Ham is now three points behind its London rival in ninth. Tottenham was ultimately punished for failing to make the most of its superiority in the first half.
It was in front after 11 minutes when Romero rose to head home Pedro Porro’s corner.The score could have been 2-0 in first-half stoppage time when West Ham defender Kurt Zouma fired the ball against his own post while cutting out a dangerous cross.
If that was a spot of good fortune for West Ham, its equalizer in the 52nd also came after a large slice of luck.Mohammed Kudus lined up a shot from outside the area that looked unlikely to pose too much threat to Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario until it ricocheted off Ben Davies and Romero.
The ball then ran invitingly for Bowen with only the keeper to beat and he smashed his shot into the back of the net.Tottenham substitute Richarlison came closest to restoring his team’s lead with a header that went narrowly wide before West Ham struck the winner in the 74th.
Spurs were victims of their own downfall as Destiny Udogie hit a weak backpass to Vicario. Bowen raced onto it and while the keeper was able to push the ball away, it fell to Ward-Prowse with the goal to aim at.
His first effort struck the post, but he was alert enough to follow up and convert from the rebound. (AP)