Tottenham Complete Comeback, Beat West Ham United 3-2

Tottenham remain unbeaten in the Premier League, one point away from a top four spot and three from first place.

Slaven Bilić who has overseen his West Ham United side lose only once in their last five Premier League games were looking to continue their good run from October against a Tottenham team who had a lot to prove after a winless stretch.

The Croatian manager opted to go with a 3-5-2 formation, giving him five midfielders to help spread Spurs’ defense out wide to cover the flanks.

Stretching Spurs’ defense helped somewhat as both Mousa Dembélé and Harry Winks would be isolated on their own. Though not much would come from this as the Hammers wouldn’t score in open play despite a couple of quality goalscoring opportunities when they sent crosses into the penalty box.

Those crosses would be taken care of, but it was something to look out for later on in the game. Which eventually happened in the 24th minute.

Though Michail Antonio’s header came off of a cross, it was initially set up from a corner kick. In any event, Antonio scoring had less to do with Danny Rose keeping him onside and more to do with the rest of Spurs’ defense ball watching.

Rose stayed back to help Hugo Lloris defend the near post in case the ball would arrive. And it did, it just happened to hit the crossbar, which meant Rose couldn’t leave just yet.

This is what caused Spurs to trail early in the game. A 1-0 lead in favor of West Ham saw Spurs flustered causing them to make mistakes in possession.

It’s only natural to go on the attack and score an equalizer, but time and time again Tottenham were rushing things. It became obvious that simple passes in their build-up play were lacking.

More from Match Reports

Christian Eriksen, who has been having a down year turned the ball over because his passes were intercepted. Whoever his intended targets were, the Danish midfielder wouldn’t be on the same page at times.

When the second half began, Spurs were much more active. Things clicked. While there will still issues with their final balls, eventually the goals would come.

Harry Winks who was making his first-ever Premier League start would score his first-ever Premier League goal. An amazing opportunity for the 20-year-old who has been getting incremental first-team appearances in his two-year spell during Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure.

Squeezed in-between Winks’ goal and Harry Kane’s brace was a Manuel Lanzini penalty kick that Vincent Janssen had conceded prior to coming off for Dele Alli.

It was a poor attempt to stop Winston Reid from receiving a free header on a corner, but it could be argued that referee Mike Dean gave it to West Ham too easily after a missed called on Harry Kane back in the first half.

Then again, Mike Dean did return the favor when Son Heung-Min (who came on for Mousa Dembélé) was brought down in the box.

Two minutes after Harry Kane equalized with a tap-in inside the six-yard box to level the game at 2-2 in the dying minutes of the match, the 23-year-old would put the nail in the coffin after converting from the penalty spot in the 91st minute to effectively secure a win.

Next: Slaven Bilić: Tottenham at White Hart Lane is a Special Game

A frenzied second half saw four goals happen, and although the game was somewhat even statistically speaking — minus possession and crosses which was in favor of Spurs — this game could have gone either way.

When one side scored, the other lost their composure, giving their opponents an opportunity to add more to their lead. It was back and forth.

In the end, Spurs won. Not only did they leave White Hart Lane victorious once again in this London derby, as history has shown over the years, but Tottenham also snapped their seven-match winless streak in an epic come from behind victory.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side still remain unbeaten with six wins and six draws but more importantly they sit just a point outside of the top four and three back from league leaders Liverpool.