West Ham pay the price for midweek heroics as defeat to Tottenham all but ends top-four dreams

Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United - Premier League
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West Ham’s dreams of a top-four finish appear all but over after defeat at fellow Champions League chasers Tottenham.

A Kurt Zouma own goal and a brace from Heung-min Son saw Spurs ease past their London rivals, who got one through Said Benrahma.

West Ham had little time to celebrate their historic win over Sevilla on Thursday with a tight turnaround before this derby.

David Moyes made just the two changes from their Europa League heroics, which saw them play through extra-time and took a toll here in the second-half.

Tottenham fans had booed and jeered every Zouma touch from kick off but had reason to greet one with a huge cheer when the Frenchman turned Harry Kane’s cross in for the opener.

Arthur Masuaku had been caught on his heels trying to receive a soft pass from Aaron Cresswell and allowed Matt Doherty to cut ahead and snatched possession, the full-back playing in Kane whose cross for Son deflected past Lukasz Fabianski off the knee of Zouma.

West Ham responded quickly as Michail Antonio rolled Eric Dier and fired wide of the far post, but it was Spurs in control. The change of shape from Moyes - a formation which had worked so well for them in the past - was opening up vast spaces for Spurs.

The hosts ripped through the east Londoners minutes after the opener as Dejan Kulusevski drove forward and crossed for Son, who clattered the outside of the post.

With a back five in place, Declan Rice was playing further forward than in recent weeks, leaving Kane space to toy with the defensive line. The England captain easily got ahead of Rice and turned into space between the lines, able to feed a fine ball between Zouma and Craig Dawson for Son, who made no mistake this time finishing past Fabianski.

West Ham were playing into Tottenham’s hands and Moyes moved to address his mistake - hauling Rice over during a break in play to make his tweaks.

It might be stretching it to say those few words were the key, but moments later West Ham were back in it. In a role reversal from the opener, Masuaku pressured Doherty and won a corner - one of West Ham’s most potent weapons.

Cresswell crossed for Dawson, whose header was wide but fell for Benrahma at the far post - the Algerian doing well to sharply readjust his feet and volley home his first goal since December 28.

West Ham completed a remarkable comeback from 3-0 down here last season and were not giving up on finding a leveller this time around. The Hammers, though, were leaving space in behind and after Benrahma was cheaply dispossessed, it took a combination of Fabianski and Zouma to deny Kane a goal on the break.

The Hammers should really have been level themselves when Antonio blazed a first-time effort over Hugo Lloris’s bar from Cresswell’s cross - his last action before being replaced by Andriy Yarmolenko.

The Ukraine international, who has scored two in his last two, flashed one effort wide from close range but West Ham were starting to slow after all their exertions on Thursday night.

Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I

This side does not give up and continued to push but Spurs were finding it easy to force them back and should have extended their lead when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg clipped a ball over for Kane, who dinked over the bar, before Dawson blocked from Matt Doherty.

A third finally arrived through Son, who had so troubled the visitors down the middle throughout.

As West Ham continued to tire, Kane drew to defenders when flicking on a long ball from Lloris and played in Son, left free to finish low past Fabianski.

Unlike Tottenham, West Ham have another potential route into the Champions League.

The Hammers have dropped to seventh and may have paid a price here for their efforts in midweek but few in the away end today will care should their European dream continue beyond Lyon and into the semi-finals.

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