Tottenham mounted a comeback of their own after three goals in eight second-half minutes inspired a 4-1 victory over 10-player West Ham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Spurs were left to dwell on their collapse at Brighton during the international break and after a bright start, they might have been left fearing the worst as Mohammed Kudus gave the Hammers the lead (18). The hosts had been warned moments earlier as Guglielmo Vicario had to pull of a stunning save to deny the Ghana international, but the Spurs goalkeeper could do nothing to keep out his second effort after latching onto Jarrod Bowen’s cross.
You could sense the frustration all around the ground after Spurs wasted another bright start and opportunities continued to come and go. The returning Heung-min Son’s curled effort flew inches wide, while the in-form Brennan Johnson missed with a header from six yards as the ball hit his shoulder and bounced wide.
But Spurs eventually found the breakthrough as Dejan Kulusevski’s shot beat Alphonse Areola before hitting both posts and creeping over the line, much to the relief of the home fans.
From that moment, Spurs, who replaced James Maddison with Pape Sarr at the break, never looked back amidst a rapid capitulation from West Ham.
Yves Bissouma started the scoring rush in the 52nd minute before an own goal from Areola after Jean-Clair Todibo had also deflected Son’s shot (55) and was described as “comical” by Sky Sports‘ Micahel Dawson on Soccer Saturday, three minutes later saw Spurs open up a two-goal advantage.
Son (60) capped the scoring spree with Spurs third in eight minutes, slamming home at the far post to see his side bounce back from their Brighton nightmare in superb style.
West Ham’s dramatic second-half collapse was complete when Kudus finally received a red card after a lengthy VAR check. In a fracas towards the end of the match after a coming together with Micky van de Ven, Kudus raised his hands to both the Dutchman and Sarr. He was initially shown a yellow card but after being sent to the VAR screen, referee Andrew Madley brandished a red card to cap an afternoon to forget for Julen Lopetegui and his side.
More to follow…