Tottenham beat West Ham 3-1 on Sunday to close in on fourth-placed Arsenal, with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min proving lethal.
Tottenham desperately needed a result to keep pace with fourth-placed Arsenal in the race for the top four and achieved success against rivals West Ham United. Two strikes from Son Heung-min and an own goal by Kurt Zouma were enough to secure the points despite the Hammers leading a second-half fightback.
Said Benrahma gave the visitors a glimmer of hope after scoring a goal when the Hammers were trailing the game by two goals. The first blow was an own goal after Harry Kane’s squared ball was challenged by Kurt Zouma, with the Frenchman finding his own net.
Kane was again the provider as he slipped Son through, and the South Korean made no mistake in slamming it past Lukasz Fabianski to double the lead before Benrahma pulled one back. West Ham generally dominated the proceedings in the second half as they searched for an equaliser to balance the game.
As they searched in vain, Kane was again instrumental in setting up Son, who scored past Fabianski to put the game beyond doubt. The win takes Spurs within three points of Arsenal, although the Gunners still have a game in hand. Antonio Conte will be a happy man seeing his side climb to fifth on the table. Here’s how the players fared in the game between West Ham and Tottenham on Sunday.
20 – Over half of Harry Kane's Premier League assists have now come for Son Heung-min (20/39); only Frank Lampard (24 to Didier Drogba) and David Silva (21 to Sergio Agüero) have assisted a single teammate more in the competition's history. Wavelength. pic.twitter.com/mA1dmBr1aA
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 20, 2022
Tottenham Hotspur
Hugo Lloris: 6.5/10
West Ham may have dominated the play in the second half, but they could not sufficiently test Lloris as the Frenchman had a quiet evening. He also played a huge part in the third goal, as Son sealed the game for Tottenham.
Cristian Romero: 8/10
A dominant performance from Romero kept Antonio quiet throughout and ensured nothing went past him at the back. The Argentine was a physical presence on the right side of the central defence, as he expertly marshalled the backline.
Cuti Romero’s game by numbers vs. West Ham:
92% pass accuracy
88 touches
7x possession won
4 duels won
3 tackles
3 interceptions
3 clearances
3 accurate long balls
1 chance createdBossed it. ? pic.twitter.com/BuuXYI2V71
— Squawka (@Squawka) March 20, 2022
Eric Dier: 7/10
The presence of Romero helped Dier immensely as the centre-back could get time on the ball and showcase his passing range, which he did against the Hammers. Defensively, the English international was strong and held his own when challenged by the West Ham attack.
Ben Davies: 7/10
Tomas Soucek was on Ben Davies’s case, but the defender dealt with the physical presence of the midfielder well. He kept things tight on his side, but he will be disappointed by the conceded goal, which also came from his side.
Matt Doherty: 6/10
Doherty may not have had the desired effect on the game, but he stays ahead of Emerson Royal based on form. He did cause some problems to Arthur Masuaku on his side but could not influence the proceedings in the final third the way he would have liked.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg: 7.5/10
A dominant force in midfield, Hojbjerg battled the likes of Declan Rice and Soucek to wield control of the central areas. He helped immensely move the ball up the field and supported the attack to the best of his abilities.
Rodrigo Bentancur: 7/10
Rodrigo Bentancur’s game by numbers vs. West Ham:
95% pass accuracy
103 touches
19 passes in the final third
10 final third entries
9x possession won
6 duels won
4 accurate long balls
2 tackles
2 aerial duels won
1 interceptionA brilliant display. ? pic.twitter.com/6XKlRisP6I
— Squawka (@Squawka) March 20, 2022
Bentancur was fundamental to the Tottenham midfield as they needed an outlet to keep the ball, especially in the second half. While he had no impact in bringing the ball into the final third, the Uruguayan was efficient at whatever he did and combined well with midfield partner Hojbjerg.
Sergio Reguilon: 5/10
Reguilon often gets into a great position in this system, and there were at least two instances when Kane slipped the full back through on goal. But the Spanish defender was wasteful and should have done better with his chances.
Dejan Kulusevski: 5.5/10
The Swede made a decent start to the game but failed to find the rhythm as the match wore on. The dip in form led to Kane and Son managing things independently, with Kulusevski restricted to providing width in the side.
Harry Kane has provided more assists than any other Premier League player since the start of last season:
◉ 19 – Harry Kane
◎ 18 – Trent Alexander-Arnold
◎ 18 – Bruno FernandesAnd he’s also scored 35 goals. ? pic.twitter.com/g60H2dMzBA
— Squawka (@Squawka) March 20, 2022
Harry Kane: 9/10
Kane could have had a hat-trick of assists if Premier League rules permitted it, as the striker had yet another fantastic game. He was the creator of all three goals and remains dangerous from deep and forward areas.
Son Heung-min: 9/10
Son played a tremendous game, scoring two goals on the evening to put the game beyond doubt. His partnership with Kane deserves special mention as the duo continues its top alliance in the Premier League while positively affecting results.
Most Premier League goals for Spurs this season: Son (13)
?️ Most Premier League assists for Spurs this season: Son (5)
Nice one. ? pic.twitter.com/1PlwzR3RDL
— William Hill (@WilliamHill) March 20, 2022
SUBSTITUES
Emerson Royal: N/A
Did not play enough to warrant a rating.
Steven Bergwijn: N/A
A late substitution to make up the numbers and without any notable impact.
Lucas Moura: N/A
Did not play enough to warrant a rating.
West Ham United
Lukasz Fabianski: 6/10
A decent evening under the belt for Fabianski, who made some smart saves during the game, which might have helped in keeping the scores to a respectable number. However, he should have done better for all of Spurs’ goals.
Kurt Zouma: 3/10
A nightmare start for Zouma scoring that own goal, and then for the rest of the game, he was constantly booed and taunted with inflatable cats by the Tottenham fans. Terrible evening, which he might want to forget quickly.
6 – Tottenham have benefitted from six own goals in the Premier League this season – they are the first side since Swansea in 2013-14 (8) to benefit from as many in the same top-flight campaign. Gifted. pic.twitter.com/CO4OB9gr5I
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 20, 2022
Craig Dawson: 4/10
Despite getting an assist, he had a bad time at the back defending against Kane and Son and did not seem to enjoy the back three Moyes deployed in the first half.
Aaron Cresswell: 5/10
Cresswell was playing in the unusual third centre-back position and did relatively well. He was still better when Moyes reverted to a back four. After a brilliant delivery from a corner, Cresswell also made a telling contribution to the Benrahma goal.
Ben Johnson: 5/10
Johnson dealt with the threat and running of Reguilon for most parts, although when the back four was implemented, he struggled somewhat to contain the Spaniard. He barely had a say in the final third matters.
Tomas Soucek: 4/10
Soucek did not have the best of games as he was trying to force his way forward into the final third. His ideas left plenty of gaps in midfield, which Hojbjerg and Bentancur exploited while leaving Rice to handle things on his own.
Declan Rice: 5/10
Rice somehow managed to affect both ends of the pitch, as he got some foothold in the midfield areas while constantly trying to impact the attacking side of things.
Arthur Masuaku: 5/10
Masuaku was defensively stable and kept Doherty and Kulusevski quiet for most parts. Yet he is not a wing-back and continues to be deployed in makeshift roles for different left-sided positions. In the final third, he did a decent job and forced the corner which led to West Ham’s goal.
Said Benrahma: 7/10
Benrahma was West Ham’s most lively player and got a crucial goal before proceeding to wield his influence further, without much success. Did he need more support from his teammates? Certainly so, and the result might have looked a bit different consequently.
West Ham did not have a single shot on target in the second half against Tottenham, while their last shot of the game came in the 61st minute.
Ran out of steam. ? pic.twitter.com/VILICu9fz7
— Squawka (@Squawka) March 20, 2022
Michail Antonio: 3/10
Romero got the best of Antonio, who seems to be losing plenty of form playing the lone striker. He barely had any support from teammates for most parts, as he tried keeping the ball and then being robbed by multiple Tottenham players.
Manuel Lanzini: 4/10
Lanzini’s midseason form is truly over, and Moyes should consider placing him on the bench once more and allow a more fluid attacking option to come in, which worked earlier in the season.
SUBSTITUTES
Andriy Yarmolenko: 3/10
Yarmolenko barely had any impact after coming on, and the feats of the last two games were not repeated this time.
Pablo Fornals: N/A
Moyes wanted to change the dimensions of the attack, but Fornals barely did anything to influence those ideas.
Nikola Vlasic: N/A
He barely had an impact after coming on.
