Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 West Ham United
- Published
Harry Kane turns home his first goal of the match in the 89th minute
Tottenham maintained their unbeaten start to the Premier League season amid high drama as Harry Kane struck twice at the death in a breathless victory over West Ham at White Hart Lane.
Michail Antonio's first-half header and a Manuel Lanzini penalty had put West Ham 2-1 up and seemingly on course for only a fourth league win of the season, but Kane's late show emphatically turned the contest on its head.
First the England striker turned home from close range after good work down the left by substitute Son Heung-Min, while two minutes later the South Korean was brought down in the area by Havard Nordtveit and Kane tucked away the resulting spot-kick.
Earlier, 20-year-old midfielder Harry Winks had equalised for Tottenham on his full Premier League debut, but Lanzini's penalty - awarded after Vincent Janssen pulled back Winston Reid in the area - put West Ham back in the driving seat before Kane intervened.
Spurs are now 12 games unbeaten at the start of the season - the last time they managed that was in the 1960-61 season, which ended with the north Londoners claiming a league and cup double.
For now Tottenham must content themselves with a fairly modest fifth place in the standings after a run of six wins and six draws, while shell-shocked West Ham - who lost Reid to a second bookable offence in added time - remain 17th and just a point outside the relegation zone.
A tale of two Harrys
Kane was largely anonymous for much of the match, with the focus and plaudits for the most part falling on midfielder Winks, handed his first start in the league in place of Dele Alli, who was named on the bench after returning from injury.
Winks has been in and around the first team for the last couple of years and finally earned a first league start in the intense spotlight of a London derby. In such circumstances do young players show their worth, and on this evidence Winks is set to be a fixture in the Spurs set-up for some considerable time.
He looked confident in possession, wanting the ball and using it well. And when the chance came to get on the scoresheet he did not hesitate, lashing home the rebound after Janssen's long-range shot was parried by Darren Randolph.
In contrast, Kane had a frustrating 89 minutes but burst to life when his team needed him most.
Randolph - who earlier produced a truly stunning save to deny Eric Dier with his side 2-1 up - will be disappointed with his part in the goal, diverting the ball into Kane's path as he attempted to cut out Son's low centre.
But he had no chance with Kane's second from the spot - a powerful, confident strike befitting a 20-goals-a-season striker.
Harry Winks made 67 passes, 39 of those coming in the opposition half. Only Christian Eriksen had more, but Winks played more forward passes than his fellow midfielder.
Son helps send Hammers to harsh defeat
West Ham more than played their part in a highly entertaining contest, and will return to east London wondering how they managed to not take at least a point with them.
Antonio's well-taken header after Cheikhou Kouyate hit the bar gave them the lead against the run of play, but their improved performance after the break meant it was less of a surprise when Lanzini lashed home their second from the penalty spot.
In that moment West Ham became the first team to score more than one goal against Spurs in the league this season, and Slaven Bilic's men looked good value for it.
But the 72nd-minute entrance of Son for Mousa Dembele proved a turning point.
The former Bayer Leverkusen forward first raced past Antonio to deliver a cross via the palm of Randolph that Kane turned home, and was then smart enough to invite a wild challenge from fellow substitute Nordtveit, cutting inside and leaving his standing leg invitingly in the path of the defender's needless lunge.
Having already awarded a league-high eight penalties this season, referee Mike Dean made it a ninth. Kane was the gleeful recipient from 12 yards.
Man of the match - Harry Winks
Winks just gets the nod ahead of namesake Kane and game-changer Son on the strength of his performance over the full 90 minutes. Thrust into a big local derby in place of one of Spurs' biggest stars, he looked assured, lively, direct and took his goal very well - triggering joyous celebrations and even a hug with his manager on the touchline.
Manager reaction
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino: "It was really important to get the three points, it was a very tough game, I'm very pleased with the performance.
"West Ham were very good and we showed big character and personality, the team always try to find the goal and for that I am very pleased. The players fought until the last minute and the reward was unbelievable.
"Harry Kane is always very important, he is our main striker and one of the best strikers in the world. You miss that type of player when he does not play for 10 or 11 games. The table looks much better, we are three points off the top and 12 unbeaten from the beginning."
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic says: "We are extremely disappointed and when you are 2-1 up with three minutes to go, to concede two goals is very hard to take. We had three really good opportunities to score the third.
"I think we were the better side in the first half hour then we started to lose the ball quite quickly. After we scored (to make it 2-1) that was the crucial time to hold on or score a third.
"We had some good counter-attacks and we should have killed the game. We have a tough schedule but we showed we can put in a really good performance."
Stats - 160 seconds of high drama
Kane has netted in each of his last four Premier League games; equalling his joint-best scoring streak in the competition.
There were 160 seconds between Kane's two goals for Spurs against West Ham.
Antonio has scored 11 headed goals in the Premier League in 2016, more than twice as many as any other player in the competition (Aguero and Benteke next, on five).
Antonio has also equalled the Premier League record for headed goals in a calendar year (11, joint with Tim Cahill in 2010).
West Ham have received more red cards than any other Premier League team since the start of last season (7).
What's next?
A big week lies in store for Spurs. On Tuesday they travel to Monaco for a vital Champions League group match (19:45 GMT), while on Saturday they have the small matter of a Premier League match at London rivals Chelsea (17:30). West Ham are back in action next Sunday, visiting Manchester United in the Premier League (16:30).
- Published19 November 2016
