Spurs in cruise control as Emerson and Son send insipid Hammers packing
Tottenham (0) 2 Emerson Royal 56, Son 72
West Ham (0) 0
Emerson Royal finished off a sparkling break from deep to set Spurs on their way to a comfortable win against their bitter east London foes.
The Brazilian timed his run so well, he only needed to pass the ball into the net to Lukasz Fabianski’s right – the hard work having already been done by Pierre-Emile Hojberg’s defence-splitting pass to Ben Davies scampering in from the left.
The Welshman’s knock across goal left the finish on a plate. It was Emerson’s second of the season – the other one coming in the recent defeat at Man City. There only looked to be one winner after that.
The Hammers are a team desperate to build on the relegation-defying baby steps which began with a defeat over Everton a couple of weeks ago, but they arguably paid the price for their cautious approach.
No sooner had manager David Moyes decided he needed more attacking intent after all and sent on Said Benrahma and Danny Ings with 20 minutes to go, than his side were 2-0 down and out of it.
It came from a familiar source too, as Son Heung-Min, who had just come on for his deputy, Richarlison, raced on to Harry Kane’s perfectly weighted ball and slipped it comfortably past Fabianski.
The deadly duo reunited. It took only four minutes for the pair working in tandem for the old magic to work in a way the Kane-Richarlison combo does not.
This was a derby that waited quite a while for something meaningful to happen, but Spurs will feel they did what they needed to – with their pursuit of the top four still very much on the agenda and the need for winning form important with the second leg of a Champions League tie with AC Milan looming.
“West Ham going down", crowed home fans in the South Stand, enjoying the moment. Antonio Conte, convalescing after his recent gallbladder op, will have enjoyed it too, albeit from afar.
For deflated Hammers fans, this was an afternoon to forget.
Spurs: (3-4-2-1) Forster – Romero, Dier, Lenglet (Perisic 78) – Emerson Royal, Hojbjerg, Skipp (Sarr 89), Davies – Kulusevski (Lucas Moura 89), Richarlison (Son 68) – Kane. Subs not used: Sanchez, Danjuma, Porro, Tanganga, Sarr, Austin
Hammers: (3-4-2-1) Fabianski – Kehrer, Ogbonna (Johnson 82), Aguerd – Coufal, Soucek, Rice, Emerson (Fornals 82) – Bowen, Downes (Benrahma 72) – Antonio (Ings 72). Subs not used: Cresswell, Scamacca, Lanzini, Areola, Casey
Attendance: 61,476
