Image Credit: Sporting Life
By Lee Clow
23 November 2019 | Premier League
Jose Mourinho got off to winning ways as Tottenham manager as his team secured their first away victory since January in a 2-3 victory over rivals West Ham.
Goals from Son Heung-min, Lucas Moura in the first half and a Harry Kane header in the second half were enough for Tottenham to hold onto their first away victory since January despite a late comeback from West Ham.
Going into the game, Mourinho made three changes bringing back in Toby Alderweireld, Harry Winks and Lucas Moura for his first starting eleven.
Tottenham started brightly and had the ball in the back of the net only 4 minutes in when Kane smashed home from Dele Alli’s pass, but the linesman raised his flag ruling out the early goal.
After a dominant 10 minutes from Spurs, the game became flat with both sides lacking any real confidence in attack.
On 36 minutes, the deadlock was finally broken when Son broke down the left flank. The South Korean easily skipped past Ryan Fredericks before firing on his left foot through West Ham goalkeeper Roberto Jiménez to score Spurs’ first goal under the ‘Mourinho era’.
Soon afterwards, Spurs had a second when Lucas Moura finished off a following move created by Dele and Son. Dele, whilst on the floor on the touchline, cleverly flicked the ball on towards Son who put in a lovely cross for Lucas to tap home. From this moment, Tottenham were in cruise control with the home side lacking any real conviction.
In the second half, Spurs regained control of the game and it didn’t take them long to score their third goal. Spurs full back Serge Aurier put in a beautiful ball into the box allowing Kane to simply header home and give the visitors a comfortable lead. Roberto, who was at fault with the first gaol and looked shaky all game, was again guilty for an error having not saved the header that was straight at him.
With a 0-3 lead, Tottenham began to take their foot off the gas allowing West Ham to gain some possession and create a few half chances.
Substitute, Michail Antonio gave West Ham a small glimmer of hope when he skipped past Alderweireld in the box and smashed home past Paulo Gazzaniga make the score 1-3.
West Ham thought they had two goals in quick concession when Declan Rice tapped home from close range, but they were denied after VAR replays showed the England midfielder in an offside position following Sebastien Haller's knock-down from a corner.
The Hammers did find a second in the final minute of stoppage time when Angelo Ogbonna headed in Robert Snodgrass' corner, however there was not enough time to complete the comeback securing Mourinho’s first victory as Spurs boss.
As the full-time whistle blew, huge cheers came from the away fans as their team secured their first away victory since January. The vital victory for Spurs lifts them up 10 places in the league from 16th to 6th while the defeat for West Ham drops them down into 16th, four points off relegation.
After the game, Jose Mourinho gave his first thoughts as Tottenham manager: "I belong there [on the touchline]. That is where I belong. That is my natural habitat. I just love it. Especially when things go your way.”
"I am not worried about my Tottenham career; I am worried about Tottenham and my players. It was very important. Eleven months without music in the away dressing room. I am very happy for them."
West Ham manager, Manuel Pellegrini, also spoke after the game: We are playing under big pressure. We know that the derby against Tottenham is a special game, and we wanted to do it better.”
"I feel like the team never gave up until the end, but we are making too many mistakes without the ball. Every time that we do, we seem to concede."
What’s next?
Mourinho's first home game as Spurs head coach takes place on Tuesday as Olympiakos visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Champions League. For West Ham, they have another London derby as they face Chelsea next Saturday.
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