Barclays Premier League: Match Review - West Ham United vs Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United took on Tottenham Hotspur in an enthralling match that took place at the Upton Park stadium in west London. Both teams who are local rivals consider the annual tie as a derby and therefore both of them went
outright for the win. Tottenham won their last league game against Wolverhampton Wanderers; therefore they approached the match in a confident fashion as they started with Peter Crouch up front, he was complimented by a midfield five which consisted of Luka
Modric and Rafael Van der Vaart in attacking positions while Huddlestone and Jermaine Jenas took up defensive roles.
Bale and Lennon played on right and left wings respectively for the Spurs whereas Corluka, Bassong and Hutton played in defence for the North London club. Carlo Cudicini played as Tottenham Hotspur’s goalkeeper. Despite playing
on their home ground, West Ham adopted a conservative strategy to deal with Tottenham’s potent attack. Green played in goal for the Hammers whilst Jacobsen, Da Costa, Upson and Gabbidon played as Grant’s four defenders. In the middle of the park, West Ham
went with Dyer, Parker, Noble and Boa Morte whereas Obinna and Piquionne played as the two strikers for the ex-Chelsea manager.
Right from the start of the match, West Ham were the dominant team as they had the support of their home crowd behind them. In the very first minute, Victor Obinna tried his luck on goal after collecting Piquionne’s header
in his striker, however his effort was well wide off the mark as it was taken from outside the Tottenham penalty area. Huddlestone was the first player to try his luck on goal for Tottenham as he took a brilliantly controlled shot at Green’s goal. However,
the shot just passed West ham’s goal post by an inch or so. But by this time, Tottenham were getting back into the game after a nervy start to the match.
Tottenham’s first shot on target came in the 15th minute of the match as Jenas tested the reflexes of Robert Green inside West Ham’s goal. The goalkeeper was up to the mark as he successfully knocked
the shot away. In the 21st minute, Van der Vaart was the next player to test Robert Green from the Spurs as the Dutchman almost scored with his belter of a shot which was denied entry into the goal courtesy of Robert Green’s finger
tips. Rafael Van der Vaart was on scene again in the 22nd minute as he again tried to score from an outrageously strong shot but this second shot just missed the target.
In the 29th minute of the match, Mark Noble’s late run into the Tottenham penalty area earned his team a well deserved corner kick. The local academy graduate, Mark Noble took the set piece and his
delivery was immaculate as Frederic Piquionne connected with his header and West Ham took a 1-0 lead as a result. Just before the half time whistle was blown by the referee, Crouch had a very good chance to score for his team through a header but his effort
went wide of West Ham’s goal as the first half ended with West Ham in the lead against their local rivals.
The second half was played at a frantic pace but the first real chance of the second period came in the 74th minute of the match. West Ham took their allotted corner and the ball was headed clear by
Bassong. However, unfortunately for Spurs, the header fell to the feet of Mark Noble who, unleashed a beautiful shot which was brilliantly tipped away by Carlo Cudicini. West Ham maintained their defensive discipline in the dying moments of the match to come
away with their first victory of the season. For Tottenham it was a disappointing loss before their mid-week UEFA Champions League match at the White Hart Lane.
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