Rampant Spurs down hapless Hammers

Tottenham Hotspur 4 (Kulusevski 36, Bissouma 52, Todibi 55 (og), Son 60)

West Ham United 1 (Kudus 18)

Att: 61,381

Three goals in eight mad minutes at the start of the second half helped impressive Spurs to a comfortable 4-1 win over West Ham this lunchtime.

The Hammers had taken the lead through Mohammed Kudus midway through the first half at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.

But Dejan Kulusevski's shot via the post 10 minutes before the break squared things up, before Yves Bissouma, an own goal from Jean-Clair Todibo and another strike from Heung-Min Son sealed the points for Spurs.

The Hammers' misery was complete when Kudus was sent off for shoving Micky van de Ven in the face late on.

On their day this Spurs side can be a match for most - and will hope to be challenging for a top four spot come May.

But for the West Ham fans who had called for the head of David Moyes last season, it is rather a case of be careful what you wish for. 

Many of those fans were heading for Seven Sisters Tube station with more than 15 minutes still remaining. Their team are 14th in the table - with just eight points from as many games.

Spurs started on the front foot, their pressing forcing West Ham into errors at the back, and Brennan Johnson seeing a shot flash just wide in the opening stages.

It took the Hammers 10 minutes to find their way, but when they did they really should have taken the lead, Jarrod Bowen's cross from the right was met by Kudus, but superbly pushed away by Guglielmo Vicario.

Spurs responded with Son, who twisted and turned on the edge of the Hammers' box before curling a shot just wide, with Alphonse Areola scrambling across his goal.

But it was the Hammers who took the lead after 18 minutes. Jarrod Bowen was too strong for Destiny Udogie down the right, beat his man and crossed for Kudus to atone for his miss minutes earlier.

Areola was called into action on 34 minutes, brilliantly changing direction to save a wickedly deflected shot from Pedro Porro.

And Spurs were level two minutes later. James Maddison, so often the architect of Spurs' promising moves, picking the right pass to find Dejan Kulusevski on the right. 

There was still lot for Kulusevski to do,  but he was allowed to cut inside on to his left foot and struck a fine shot past Areola via the post.

Spurs could have been level before the break, Porro spectacularly volleying just wide.

But the Hammers were blown away at the start of the second half. First Son found Udogie down the left and his square ball left Yves Bissouma with a simple task in slotting home.

Then, just three minutes later, Son's pass found Kulusevski in the inside right position. His shot was saved by Areola but bundled over the line by the unfortunate backpedaling defender Jean-Clair Todibo.

And Todibo's afternoon went from bad to worse when he was turned inside out by Son soon after - the South Korean finishing past Areola for a fourth.

Spurs were rampant, West Ham utterly flattened. Son should have made it five a minute later, his shot cannoning back off the post with Areola rooted.

And Kudus' red card, overturned by VAR after referee Andrew Madley had initially issued a yellow, capped a thoroughly miserable afternoon in north London for the Hammers.

Read Yann Tear's talking points about the game HERE

Teams:

Spurs: Vicario, Son (Werner 70), Bissouma (Bentancur 81), Maddison (Sarr h-t), Udogie (Gray 88), Romero, Solanke (Richarlison 81), Kulusevski, Johndon, Porro, Van de Ven

West Ham: Areola, Antonio (Summerville 61), Paqueta (Alvarez 61), Kudus, Bowen, Rodriguez (Mavropanos 70), Todibo, Kilman, Soucek (Soler 61), Wan-Bissaka, Palmieri

Referee: Andrew Madley