Tottenham preserved their undefeated start to the season but had to settle for a hard-fought 1-1 draw against West Ham at the London Stadium.
The hosts got off to a good start and looked sharp in the opening exchanges. Tottenham eventually gained control and felt they had secured a penalty when Harry Kane’s header struck Aaron Cresswell’s outstretched arm. However, after a long VAR review, the referee viewed a pitch-side monitor and rightfully changed his judgement as the ball struck Cresswell’s head prior to contacting his arm.
Tottenham ultimately took the lead in the 34th minute, when Thilo Kehrer turned into his own net following a lightning Spurs’ counterattack led by Dejan Kulusevski and Harry Kane. Kehrer was forced to slide in due to the ghosting presence of Son Heung-min behind him, waiting for a tap-in.
Following that, momentum shifted in West Ham’s favour, with the game looking more and more threatening as the game progressed and Michail Antonio hitting the woodwork with a 30-yard curler. Tottenham had their share of chances in the second period, with Son getting close, but they were unable to hold off the pressure from the hosts.
West Ham equalised when Tottenham failed to clear a throw-in, the ball was moved into the area, where Antonio played a fantastic flicked through pass to Soucek, who hammered a shot past Hugo Lloris. Tottenham rode their luck towards the end but hung on for a point. The Hard Tackle will now runs the rule over both sets of players.
FULL-TIME West Ham 1-1 Spurs
A tight tussle ends with the points shared after Tomas Soucek’s excellent equaliser#WHUTOT pic.twitter.com/8zIrJBdtmR
— Premier League (@premierleague) August 31, 2022
West Ham United
Lukasz Fabianski: 6/10
Fabianski could not have done much about Kehrer’s own goal. Otherwise, he had little to do and was relatively untroubled for the majority of the game as Spurs created a limited number of chances. Still, he was alert to any potential danger and made a couple of routine saves.
Thilo Kehrer: 4/10
It was far from an ideal start for Kehrer, who scored an own goal here to add to his poor tackle against Brighton, which cost his side a penalty. He used his physicality to fend off Harry Kane, but his poor decision-making is letting him down under pressure. With Ogbonna back fit again, it would not be a surprise if Moyes dropped the German defender for the next game.
Kurt Zouma: 7/10
Zouma continued from his excellent showing against Villa. Spurs’ attacking intentions were mostly thwarted by Zouma’s smart positioning, instincts, and defensive know-how. He was imperious in the air and led the defensive line effectively while continually looking strong in the air. He made the highest number of clearances (6), while his long passing and distribution were decent as well.
Aaron Cresswell: 5/10
Dejan Kulusevski got plenty of joy down Cresswell’s flank. The Englishman was fortunate not to give away a penalty in the first half, with the ball seemingly striking his flailing hand, but VAR bailed him out, ruling that the ball impacted his face first. Offensively, he offered next to nothing, leaving Benrahma all on his own.
Vladimir Coufal: 6/10
Vladimir Coufal returned to the starting lineup, with Ben Johnson out due to injury. His crosses from the right were unable to produce any serious chances for his teammates in the first half, but he was quick to take the throw-in in the lead up to the goal. All in all, An okay display both defensively and offensively.
Tomas Soucek: 8/10
Tomáš Souček’s game by numbers vs. Tottenham:
100% long balls completed
100% tackles won
90% pass accuracy
53 touches
4/5 ground duels won
3 interceptions
1 shot on target
1 goalScored a crucial equaliser for West Ham. ⚒️ pic.twitter.com/gE9JjCt0eA
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) August 31, 2022
Soucek struggled for form at the back-end of last season and in the opening games, but this was his best performance in a long time. He looked the likeliest to score for West Ham. He earned his deserved first league goal of the season in the second half, latching on to a brilliant Antonio hold up move and slamming home. He was a powerful presence in the Tottenham midfield, contesting admirably against Bissouma and Hojbjerg.
Declan Rice: 7/10
Making his 200th first-team appearance for the club, Rice tried his utmost to make things happen and pushed forwards at every opportunity, but he was at fault for leaving a big gap in the middle of the park for Spurs to exploit for their first-half goal. He had a couple of long-range efforts that did not really trouble Hugo Lloris in the Spurs net.
Rice was progressive with his passes and tough in his tackles, but he did get away with a late tackle on Hojbjerg at the stroke of half-time. The West Ham captain had yet another solid performance.
Declan Rice’s game by numbers vs. Tottenham:
100% aerial duels won
95% pass accuracy
76 touches
64 passes
22/22 final third passes
12 ball recoveries
7/7 long balls completed
1 key passAnother exceptional performance on his 200th West Ham appearance. ? pic.twitter.com/NziZD6drSx
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) August 31, 2022
Pablo Fornals: 5/10
Fornals was given an industrious role to help out the backline and charge forward to support the attack in possession. He was perhaps the quietest of West Ham’s attacking midfielders, with hesitant progressive passes, many safer ones, and poor end-product.
Said Benrahma: 6/10
After impressing off the bench against Villa, Benrahma was rewarded with a return to the starting XI. He picked up pockets of space in between Spurs’ midfield and defensive lines and tried to grab the game by the scruff of the neck with his direct dribbles. But it was still an underwhelming performance from the Algerian, who has been in fine form lately. Though he did make things happen, it was not quite enough.
Jarrod Bowen: 6/10
Eyebrows will be raised on whether last season was a purple patch or a one-season wonder from Bowen following a rusty start to the 2022/23 season. Against Spurs, he was once again part of an ineffective attacking midfield trio, and his end product was visibly missing, as was his ability to take on the full-back.
He genuinely does look like a shadow of the player he was last season and needs to rediscover his form. On a positive note, his improved second-half display was his best showing in a league game so far, as he was pressing more aggressively and creating a whole lot of chances for the likes of Antonio and Soucek.
Michail Antonio: 7.5/10
With Gianluca Scamacca out with illness, Antonio was handed the responsibility of leading the line for West Ham, and he had a point to prove after he was dropped last weekend. He was immense here, and a menace for Spurs’ defenders to deal with throughout the game.
The 32-year-old worked his socks off up top and got joy out of pressing Spurs defenders intensely. Got a fantastic assist for Soucek’s goal by holding the ball up off a Coufal throw-in and teeing up Soucek with a deft flick. The Jamaican also hit the post in the first half and almost scored a last-gasp winner, but could not meet Bowen’s unexpected cross.
SUBSTITUTES
Lucas Paqueta: 6/10
West Ham sealed the acquisition of Lucas Paqueta a little over 48 hours before kick-off in a deal that might set a club record purchase, including add-ons. He entered the pitch in the 66th minute, and was a complete box office, full of canny turns, dribbles, lovely touches, and flicks.
The Brazilian also showed his work rate as well, making a couple of tackles. Had a golden chance of a debut goal when Coufal’s cross found him, although he and Emerson made a mess of it without unleashing a strike.
Angelo Ogbonna: 6/10
After returning from a long-term injury, Angelo Ogbonna was handed his first outing of the season as a left-back. Defended well and created a fantastic opportunity late on when Richarlison’s clearance clattered off him and dropped to Bowen.
Emerson Palmieri: N/A
Did not play enough to warrant a rating.
Tottenham Hotspur
Hugo Lloris: 6/10
The French shot-stopper was again key for his side as he was called into action early on with a fair few shots from distance that he handled comfortably. He was aggressive, coming off his line to punch clear any lofted ball into the box. He looked very shaky with the ball at his feet, and West Ham’s leveller came after he kicked the ball out of play to invite more pressure.
Davinson Sanchez: 3/10
After a couple of bright performances, Sanchez is back to his usual shaky displays. His actual defensive actions were solid, but with the ball at his feet, he left a lot to be desired. West Ham targeted him with their press, leading to transitions and hoofing long balls. He was dragged out of position by Fornals for West Ham’s best chance of the first half, which Antonio blasted on to the post, and then he was beaten by Soucek for the goal.
Eric Dier: 6/10
Dier had a decent outing against the Hammers, as he made some key interventions for his side. He coped with the physical battle against Antonio for much of the match but could not grasp the ball in the build-up to West Ham’s equaliser.
Ben Davies: 6.5/10
Davies did well defensively and combined nicely with Perisic down the left, with a fair few overlaps to get into some dangerous situations in the final third. However, Spurs’ defensive problems were concentrated on West Ham’s right flank.
Emerson Royal: 6/10
Emerson had an early effort on goal that forced Lukasz Fabianski into action before later displaying excellent composure in a tight situation in the far corner to initiate a Tottenham counter-attack. There was not much danger coming down the West Ham left, with Emerson performing his defensive duties very well, but he offered little attacking threat overall.
Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg: 7/10
Hojbjerg caught the attention in the first half with some forays forward and clever switches of play. He produced some great long balls and played the second-highest number of accurate long passes (5). He was less influential after the break following a crunching challenge from Declan Rice and became less prominent in the game. Steady performance from the Dane again.
Yves Bissouma: 5/10
A frustrating and a little underwhelming full debut from Bissouma, not helped by a first-half booking for petulantly throwing the ball away. Soucek ran off the back of him for West Ham’s equaliser. He made zero tackles, one interception, and one clearance, but he helped Spurs control the flow of the game with his passing.
Ivan Perisic: 6.5/10
Perisic deserves a much higher rating for his attacking work, especially in 1v1 situations, as he was a consistent offensive threat down his flanks. He put in a number of great crosses after beating his man, but he dozed off for the goal, and some shoddy defending nearly cost Spurs another.
Dejan Kulusevski: 7/10
Kulusevski was easily Spurs’ most potent threat out of the front three and looked the likeliest to make something happen in possession. He set up the visitors’ opener with an inch-perfect pass to Kane on the overlap. He always uses the ball so precisely.
Harry Kane: 7/10
Kane popped up all over the pitch, exploiting open spaces, combining with teammates, creating goals, and firing shots all by himself. He created Spurs’ only goal with a nice overlapping run and a clever one-two with Kulusevski before drilling the ball across into the box for the own-goal tap-in.
Son Heung-min: 4/10
Despite his recent struggles, Son was handed the nod again and seemed to miss the x-factor or spark in the first half. He squandered a prime opportunity with a heavy touch, while his deflected effort flew just above the crossbar. Having said that, he did put up enough pressure on Kehrer to turn the ball into his own net.
Conte definitely expects better from his star and may drop him in this weekend’s fixture, with Richarlison now an excellent back-up at his disposal.
SUBSTITUTES
Richarlison: 6/10
Richarlison came in for the final fifteen minutes of the game and made an immediate impression with a burst down the right side and a pass to Kane. But he had little influence after that to do the hosts serious damage.
