West Ham United made a short trip to Wembley Stadium to take on fellow London rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the back of an impressive 2-1 victory versus West Bromwich Albion in their last league outing on Tuesday night. The Hammers manager David Moyes opted for a 5-3-1-1 possession to keep things tight at the back early on and it did the trick with Spurs failing to find a breakthrough in the first half. And it was pretty much the same after the break as Tottenham piled on the pressure in search of an opening goal.
However, the Hammers finally took the lead in the 70th minute through Pedro Obiang’s wonder strike. The goal came totally against the run of play but Spurs came back strong and got the equalizer through Son Heung-min’s superb shot from long-range. It ended honours even at the Wembley Stadium with both teams sharing the spoils.
Let’s take a look at how each West Ham United player fared on the night.
GK: Adrian – 8/10
The Spanish goalkeeper made a few good saves to deny the Spurs attackers. He failed to keep a clean sheet after conceding from Son Heung-min’s superb strike where he was left helpless by the brilliance of the shot.
RB: Pablo Zabaleta – 8/10
The Argentine veteran made some excellent blocks inside the box to keep the Spurs attack at bay. The ex-Manchester City defender put in a solid display at right-back.
CB: Winston Reid – 7/10
He did well to command the Hammers backline and had a good game in central defence.
CB: Angelo Ogbonna – 7/10
He was equally good as a centre-back and coordinated effectively with his fellow defensive partners in the West Ham back five.
CB: Declan Rice – 8/10
The youngster was outstanding in the derby and did well to keep Harry Kane and Dele Alli quiet all throughout the contest.
LB: Arthur Masuaku – 6/10
Not the best game from the Hammers left-back. He was caught out of position defensively and struggled to deal with the pace of Serge Aurier. He was unable to provide an outlet for his teammates going forward.
CM: Mark Noble – 5/10
He was at fault for not closing down Son Heung-min during the Spurs equalizer. The midfielder also got booked for a rash challenge late in the contest.
CM: Cheikhou Kouyate – 6/10
He put in a tireless shift at the center of the park and did well to break down some Tottenham attacks.
CM: Pedro Obiang – 9/10
He was arguably the man of the match and almost made the difference with his wonder-strike. His long-range bullet might go down as one of the goals of the season.
CAM: Manuel Lanzini – 5/10
The Argentine playmaker huffed and puffed but was relatively ineffective in the game.
ST: Javier Hernandez – 5/10
The Mexican tried his best to lead the lines for the Hammers but was bullied by the Spurs defenders. He couldn’t manage to hold the ball up for his team which made it a one-sided contest.
Substitutes:
ST: Andy Carroll – 5/10
The English forward came off the bench but was unable to make an impact in the opposition box.
CAM: Andre Ayew – 5/10
He got a golden chance to win it for the Hammers but his shot was saved by the Spurs keeper.
