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Tottenham Hotspur’s Eric Dier breaks West Ham United at the death Tottenham Hotspur’s Eric Dier breaks West Ham United at the death
(about 2 hours later)
Eric Dier’s last-minute winner gave Mauricio Pochettino a dream start to life as Tottenham Hotspur’s new manager and ensured that the questions remain over Sam Allardyce’s future at West Ham, who missed a penalty, played the majority of the match against 10 men and were ultimately made to regret their wastefulness in front of goal. Sam Allardyce spoke about the number of opportunities created by West Ham. He pointed to the penalty that Mark Noble missed in the first half, said that the way his team outplayed Tottenham Hotspur gives him great encouragement for what lies ahead and laughed off suggestions that his job could be under threat after this galling defeat. “If they’re going to do it after one game, they might as well have done it at the end of last season,” he said.
There were boos at the end of a game that West Ham should have won after Kyle Naughton was controversially sent off in the first half. However Mark Noble dragged his penalty wide, chances were missed and when James Collins’s red card made it 10 against 10 in the second half, Tottenham pounced. Harry Kane released Dier, who was making his debut, and the defender rounded Adrian and slotted the ball into an empty net. Agony for West Ham, who were hoping to make it four wins in a row against Tottenham, and delight for Pochettino, whose side displayed more grit than usual. They almost did. Yet Allardyce had a point. If Noble had scored, West Ham probably would have won and the boos would not have rung around Upton Park when Chris Foy blew for full-time moments after Eric Dier had given Mauricio Pochettino a perfect start as Tottenham’s manager.
A new season offered both sides a fresh start, for Allardyce to show that he is able to meet the board’s demands for a more expansive style at and for Tottenham to forget about the chaos of last season, when neither André Villas-Boas or Tim Sherwood could meet Daniel Levy’s high expectations. Pochettino has said that his new chairman’s ruthless reputation is not a problem for him, but even the Argentinian accepts that results must be achieved swiftly. Yet Noble dragged his effort from 12 yards wide and supporters are losing patience with the number of times they hear Allardyce bemoaning West Ham’s wastefulness in front of goal. They played the majority of the match against 10 men after Kyle Naughton’s controversial red card in the first half and they were not good enough to capitalise against a team not always noted for its stubbornness in the face of adversity.
Pochettino is noted for intensive training sessions that place heavy demands on his players, but Tottenham seemed to be feeling the benefits in the early stages, their passing crisp and the movement of their attacking players difficult to read. Tottenham, often first to the loose balls, looked fit and there were long spells when West Ham were forced to concede possession and defend from the edge of their area. Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen, switching positions seamlessly, were giving Mark Noble and Cheikhou Kouyaté problems. West Ham paid because, once again, they have started the season without a top-class striker. Andy Carroll is out until November with torn ankle ligaments, Enner Valencia was fit enough only for a place on the bench, Diafra Sakho was left out after arriving from Metz on Thursday night and although Carlton Cole battled hard, he falls well below the standard expected from a striker in the Premier League. Ricardo Vaz Tê, too, will reflect on a number of chances that went begging in the first half. Stewart Downing should have beaten Hugo Lloris from close range near the end.
Yet Tottenham were guilty of sloppy final passes and after a nervy opening 20 minutes, West Ham began to impose themselves. Ricardo Vaz Te and Kouyaté both flashed headers wide after crosses from the right by Stewart Downing, before a moment of major controversy. Pochettino, not entirely comfortably speaking in English yet but giving it a good go nonetheless, was rewarded for the positivity he showed after Naughton was sent off, his decision to move Etienne Capoue from midfield into defence and keep his attacking players on the pitch ensuring that Tottenham retained their threat on the break and ultimately led to the James Collins red card that made it 10 against 10 in the second half.
There was no doubt that it was a penalty when Naughton handled Kevin Nolan’s volley from close range after 28 minutes, yet Chris Foy’s decision to send the right-back off felt harsh in the extreme. Naughton was only yards away from Nolan when the ball hit his raised hand. From Foy’s point of view, he had denied a goalscoring opportunity. For Pochettino it was about belief. Tottenham collapsed in this fixture last season after Younès Kaboul’s red card. This time they stood firm and stunned West Ham when Dier, 20, the defender who was signed from Sporting Lisbon in the summer, burst on to Harry Kane’s pass in stoppage time, rounded Adrián and tapped the ball into the empty net.
Tottenham were furious but they were feeling better when Noble sent Hugo Lloris the wrong way but dragged his effort wide of the right post. “It was an unfair red but the more important thing was that we never gave up and always kept calm,” Pochettino said. “We need to believe, always for 90 or 95 minutes. This is our philosophy.”
For Tottenham, there was a sense of deja vu given that they lost Younès Kaboul to a red card in this fixture last season. They then had to withstand sustained pressure from West Ham. They rode their luck at times and were relieved to see Vaz Te spurn two excellent chances, but Tottenham retained a threat on the break, Aaron Lennon’s shot from 18 yards a warning for West Ham not to grow complacent. That philosophy was tested at times and Tottenham did not always keep their cool. After a bright start from the visitors – Pochettino demands everything from his players in training and Tottenham looked sharp in the opening 20 minutes – West Ham began to impose themselves.
Allardyce has set West Ham a target of 50 goals this season and would have been exasperated by their profligacy against a rejigged Tottenham defence that had Eric Dier playing on the right and Etienne Capoue dropping back from midfield. Vaz Tê and Cheikhou Kouyaté flashed headers wide, before Kevin Nolan’s spin and volley was handled by Naughton. Michael McDonough, Foy’s assistant, flagged, a penalty was awarded and Naughton was sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity. “It was unfair because the ball was going outside the target,” Pochettino said.
However after the initial uncertainty, Tottenham were coping better with West Ham’s aerial threat. There was a moment of worry when Lloris spilled Downing’s firm shot from 25 yards but West Ham’s old failings, that lack of creativity, were becoming more evident. They were unable to play their through the middle, the quality of the service from the wide positions was decreasing and it was a surprise that Allardyce had not introduced a second striker. It did not matter, though, because Noble missed a penalty for the first time since 2009. Vaz Tê then spurned two fine chances but West Ham grew sloppy and predictable after the break, too reliant on hopeful crosses as Allardyce resisted calls to introduce another striker.
Tottenham, newly encouraged, fed off the growing edginess and were rewarded when Collins, already cautioned for a foul on Lamela, clumsily brought down a rampaging Emmanuel Adebayor to earn a second booking. It was a red card that summed up West Ham’s sloppiness in the second half. The old failings were becoming sorely evident and Tottenham fed off the edginess. Collins was booked for fouling Erik Lamela, then for checking a rampaging Emmanuel Adebayor, and soon Adrián was forced to tip over from the substitute Andros Townsend.
Then came a moment of pure farce, as a fan escaped the stewards, ran the length of the pitch and usurped Eriksen by taking the Tottenham free-kick. Adrian saved comfortably; a fierce shot from the substitute, Andros Townsend, required a more impressive stop as Tottenham chased an unlikely winner. Valencia came on for a late cameo and West Ham still might have won it after Nolan released Downing. Yet the winger took too long, Lloris was out quickly to block him and there was still time for Dier to write himself into Tottenham folklore.
They were indebted to Lloris for making a brilliant save from Downing – and then Dier wrote himself into Tottenham folklore.