Spurs completed a convincing rout of their London rivals West Ham in a 3-0 win in East London.
Two headed goals, one from a Xavi Simons corner who earned an assist on his debut and one from Lucas Bergvall who masterfully lifted the ball over West Ham keeper Hermansen following an equally impressive lofted pass from Christian Romero, as well as one crisp shot from Micky van de Ven, were the deciders.
Spurs managed to ride out the first 20 minutes and some sustained pressure from West Ham. Right after kick-off the Hammers were linking up well. Some clever interplay created a good chance for Lucas Paqueta who couldn’t direct the shot on target.
But after that Spurs started to grow into the game, culminating in a disallowed goal headed in by Christian Romero following a Spurs corner. If not for the convincing Spurs win, we may have seen another bit of VAR controversy as Micky van de Ven’s foul on West Ham midfielder Mateus Fernandes can only be considered soft.
The disallowed goal seems not to have deterred Spurs, however, as they kept gaining momentum and assaulted West Ham with another flurry of corners leading to a few chances for Spurs.
The score remained 0-0 at half time though.
The second half would not grant West Ham any reprieve though, with Pape Sarr heading in a goal from a Xavi Simons corner. Sarr was left completely unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box which allowed him to head in a corner over the keeper and into the roof of the West Ham net.
Perhaps as an expression of frustration at going a goal down or simply out of carelessness Tomáš Souček got himself sent off for a studs-up challange on João Palhinha.
From then on, the final score perhaps became an inevitability as it really was all Spurs from that point.
Lucas Bergvall headed home after a stunning assist from Christian Romero. The Argentine defender lofted a perfect ball from Tottenham's defensive third which caught the West Ham defense completely offguard. Lucas Bergval (with still a lot to do) managed to send his header over the goalkeeper and into the net.
The question of whether this game will turn into a full rout was answered just seven minutes later when a few clever passes and a fortunate deflection placed the ball in front of Micky van de Ven who slotted it confidently in the goal's left corner.
Spurs were comfortable enough to let the foot of the gas for the final half hour, although they still got in some good positions, while their opposition couldn't create anything of note.
The win puts Spurs joint top of the Premier League.
