West Ham United 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur: Spurs can't bury the Hammers after early lead

02/04/2024 23:31

Spurs struggle in frustrating display

On a wet rainy Tuesday night at London Stadium — a place Tottenham Hotspur haven't won since 2019 — Spurs failed once more to get all three points as a 1-1 draw against West Ham United left Tottenham in fifth.

It wasn't a great start either for Tottenham as they succumbed to an early chance from West Ham that Jarrod Bowen missed out on that would have put the Hammers up three minutes into the game.

Getting the ball down the pitch quickly the other way, Spurs were able to work a few passes in the middle as Destiny Udogie and Rodrigo Bentancur played a few passes before Bentancur found Timo Werner down the left flank.

Taking two touches and using his left shimmy that has has grown accustomed to doin, Werner sent the perfect low driven cross into the six-yard box as Brennan Johnson slipped his way past the West Ham defense looking for the ball. Receiving it quickly, Johnson opened his foot off the pass and scored the opening goal of the game to continue the inform run he has had since the turn of the year.

Leading 1-0, Spurs had other opportunities to really dictate the game but it was a set piece that once again hurt the team.

In the 18th minute with Bowen taking the corner from the right with his left in swinger, Spurs failed to pick up Kurt Zouma as the big center half had a free header on the ball. Although it went more off his back than anything, Zouma was able to bury home what would be the equalizer and final goal of the game.

Frustration has boiled all year long on the poor display from set pieces on both sides of the field as Spurs were once a top team in scoring and defending set pieces. This year has been the damaging blow for the team as the Zouma goal proved to be costly in hopes of leveling up on points with Aston Villa for fourth.

The remainder of the game had its moments as both sides found a chance or two and more frustration than anything as Spurs struggled to complete a routine pass in the rain. But, it was in the final seconds that Spurs almost came way with the winner.

As David Moyes used his trademark defense of bringing everyone into the box and forcing tough shots to beat his teams in the dying minutes, Dejan Kulusevski looked for the perfect ball to send into the box.

Curling his ball into the box and finding Udogie in the middle of the box, the Italian quickly struck the ball with his right foot straight down the middle for Lukasz Fabianski to control. If Udogie struck the ball to go to the left or right it would have been the winner for Spurs — but it is not something to judge him on as the team had 90 minutes after Johnson's goal to get another.

With the quick turnaround it is hard to say how tired a lot of the players were or albeit how poorly they seem to play at West Ham. But, it was a display that is frustrating with the important stretch of the season on hands.

A missed opportunity by the team and one that will leave many asking questions about who to play, what has gone wrong at times in the season, and other varying aspects to the game.

Sorry for the shorter recap or missing contexts/notes of important pieces. Felt right to get it done quickly for all to interact and leave their thoughts on the draw in a quick manner after this game.

Tottenham host Nottingham Forest on Sunday at 1 p.m.