Tottenham Hotspur missed the chance to put pressure on Aston Villa in the Premier League’s fourth-most sensible race as they were held to a frustrating draw by West Ham United.
Brennan Johnson scored after five minutes to give Ange Postecoglou’s side a spectacular start, but the Spurs’ comfortable belly proved their undoing when Kurt Zouma allowed things to be scored with a free throw.
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The win would have left Tottenham on point because of problems with fourth-placed Villa, who visited Manchester City on Wednesday night, but had to settle for a point at the London Stadium.
Jay Harris and Charlie Eccleshare detail the key topics to talk about the Spurs’ sixth draft of the season.
The Spurs played well and dampened the enthusiasm of the home crowd when they were defeated by faulty defensive set pieces.
It was a dangerous pass from Jarrod Bowen, but it was confusing to see Zouma, one of West Ham’s biggest aerial threats, completely unmarked to make it 1-1 after 19 minutes. At the start of the second half, West Ham arrived. he came close to repeating the trick, but this time Konstantinos Mavropanos, equally relaxed, headed straight for Guglielmo Vicario from close range.
Only four teams have recorded a worse number of expected goals against (xGA) from set-pieces in the Premier League this season. More broadly, Tottenham’s vulnerability to set-piece scenarios has contributed to a situation where they have now only left two goals blank. Only Sheffield United have held less in that era and there were times on Tuesday night when their defence was quite calamitous.
There was a moment around the hour mark when it took a long ball from James Ward-Prowse to create a great chance for Michail Antonio who couldn’t finish.
Part of that has to do with the top line the Spurs like to play with and their risk-reward technique and there’s a lot to be said for that, however, it’s frustrating when they give up on goals as sweet as Zouma’s equaliser.
Charlie Eccleshare
Johnson has shown many times this season that he can have a positive effect when he comes off the bench and uses his devastating speed to take advantage of tired defenders. The 22-year-old has scored six goals in eight appearances before Tuesday night’s stopover was at the London Stadium and has started just three times in that stretch.
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After coming on at half-time and helping Son Heung-min to a 2-1 win over Luton Town on Saturday, Johnson replaced Dejan Kulusevski in the starting XI against West Ham. Timo Werner’s cross beats Lukasz Fabianski in the fourth minute.
That means the Wales foreigner has been directly involved in 12 goals in 24 appearances for Spurs this season, surpassing his tally with Nottingham Forest (11) in the 2022-23 campaign. He played 33 times for Forest under Steve Cooper, playing 2,940 minutes, compared to just 19 starts for Spurs.
There were a few other moments when Johnson showed his quality, adding a cross that narrowly missed Werner at the post and a cheeky backheel that brought down Mohammed Kudus.
It’s been a promising first season for the £47. 5m striker, suggesting there’s a lot more to come and not only giving Kulusevski a direct and quick option, but also being a figurehead of Spurs’ attack for the foreseeable future.
Jay Harris
When Johnson gave Spurs the lead in the fourth minute, they were heading for a very important 3 points and fourth place in the table. A draw leaves them two problems behind Aston Villa and while it’s not a disastrous result, Ange Postecoglou will be disappointed. His team didn’t take advantage of his early start.
Spurs have become accustomed to making wide cuts and converting stoppages in the box, but relied too much on that tactic at the London Stadium.
Every time they tried to play in the midfield, they ran into resistance from Zouma and Mavropanos. West Ham had bigger chances in the second half and Spurs relied on a couple of saves from Vicario to deny Antonio.
It was never going to be an easy meeting for Spurs given the history between the two teams, however, they will be comforted by the fact that Villa will visit the Etihad on Wednesday and also face Arsenal in a couple of weeks’ time.
jay harris
The West Ham vs Tottenham Hotspur adjustment scoreboard shows a timeline of risk, territory, adjustment stats, shot cards, and passing nets.
“I think, overall, we controlled the game pretty well. It’s a tough position to reach and it’s a big, forged team.
“They sit deep and make it difficult for you. You know you’ll have to be quite calm in your technique and also very disciplined because they’re a risk on the counterattack. I think, for the most part, we treat that very well.
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“I think tonight there was more structural maturity in our game than, for example, against Fulham (3-0 defeat on March 16), so for me that’s progress. Obviously, you have to win football games, that’s the ultimate measure, but tonight there were enough to say, “This is a team that’s going in the right direction. “
Sunday, April 7: Nottingham Forest (H), Premier League, 6pmBST, 1 p. m. ET
Tottenham have not lost to Forest in the league since March 1997, this is only the third season since the clubs have played in the same division. They won 2-0 at the City Ground in December’s opposite match despite Yves Bissouma’s red card. halfway through the second half.