Tottenham Hotspur held by battling West Ham United – English Premier League update
West Ham United held Tottenham Hotspur to a 0-0 draw in a Premier League encounter at the White Hart Lane on Saturday.
The draw dents Spurs chances for a fourth place finish in the Premier League in the ongoing 2010-11 season.
Harry Redknapp made two changes to the Spurs starting line-up that played a goalless draw against AC Milan in their previous game. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gareth-Bale-c14422 and Jermaine Defoe respectively.
On the other hand, West Ham United made only one change to their side from the 2-1 defeat at the hands of Stoke City. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Demba-Ba-c10812 upfront in a 4-4-2 formation.
The game took off at a sparkling start, as the hosts almost scored inside the first five minutes. Rafael van der Vaart swung in a beautiful free kick from outside the box and Michael Dawson’s header beat everyone but cannoned against the cross bar to deny
Spurs an early lead.
Spurs continued to apply the pressure as they came close to scoring on several occasions in the opening 15 minutes. In the 19th minute, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Luka-Modric-c22857 played a short corner towards van der Vaart on the edge of the box and the Dutchman’s volleyed
effort fizzled just wide of the post.
Immediately after that huge let off, Ba played a superb ball to Cole, who struck an awful shot from a one-on-one situation with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Robert-c31222 Green and the keeper made an easy save.
Spurs were clearly the dominant of the two sides and created a host of chances but all in vain. Just before the half time whistle, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Aaron-Lennon-c3062 cut inside from the right flank and his low shot hit the cross bar and the rebounded effort was smashed wide of
an open goal by Jermaine Defoe.
The Hammers had an early chance immediately after the resumption of second half. Cole made a fantastic turn on the edge of the box and his powerful shot was parried away by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Heurelho-Gomes-c16173 to clear the danger.
Moments later, the hosts had another fantastic opportunity to take the lead. Modric and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Vedran-Corluka-c35947 played a lovely one-two before laying the ball for Defoe, whose low shot from six yards was excellently saved by Green with his legs.
Both teams continued to create several clear-cut scoring opportunities but their wastefulness in front of the goal meant that the game ended in a stalemate draw.
Tottenham Hotspur will face Wigan Athletic in their next match on 2 April, 2011 while West Ham United will take on Manchester United the same day.
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