Spurs hammer West Ham 4-1

Kayode Ogundele
Kayode Ogundele
Tottenham

Tottenham have equalled a club record by going 12 Premier League games unbeaten after Harry Kane’s two goals helped them comfortably beat West Ham.

Kane scored for the fifth club game in a row to put Spurs ahead before Toby Alderweireld headed in from a corner.

The England striker fired in his second after the break before Kyle Walker added a fourth for the home side, who also struck the woodwork twice.

Manuel Lanzini’s late goal was merely a consolation for the lacklustre Hammers.

They had earlier hit the crossbar through Cheikhou Kouyate’s acrobatic volley.

The two sides began the day level on 21 points from 12 games – a tally that represents the Hammers’ best start to a Premier League season – but it is Tottenham who now find themselves fifth – two points behind fourth-placed Arsenal.

A month ago, Kane had one Spurs goal to his name from 13 matches in all competitions, following the 22-year-old’s haul of 31 in 2014-15.

He has dispelled any doubts by scoring in his past five matches for his club, accumulating eight goals in the process.

Kane’s opening goal against West Ham was a typically ruthless close-range finish, following a sharp turn after the ball had fallen at his feet from Dele Alli’s deflected long-range shot.

His second came soon after the break from a well-struck shot from the edge of the box, although West Ham were also culpable courtesy of James Tomkins gifting the ball to Christian Eriksen in the build-up and Hammers’ keeper Adrian allowing the shot to creep under his body.

Kane could have been celebrating a hat-trick but for an awful miss near the end of the first half when he dragged a mis-hit shot well wide after being put through on goal by Alli.

Full of confidence after scoring on his international debut for England against France on Tuesday, Tottenham midfielder Alli continued his fine form with another energetic and highly-effective display.

He played a big part in Kane’s opener and could have scored himself with a follow-up header that hit the bar after Adrian had saved a shot from Son Heung-min.

The 19-year-old put in a box-to-box midfield display that saw him win tackles near the edge of his own box and often run beyond lone forward Kane in an attempt to make an impact in the Hammers’ box.

To underline Tottenham’s current contribution to the national team, it was another of their England contingent, Walker, who scored their fourth goal – a neat finish with the outside of his boot following an exchange of passes with Son.

Unfortunately for Spurs, they will have to cope without Alli in next Sunday’s game against champions Chelsea after he picked up a fifth yellow card for tussling with West Ham’s Mark Noble shortly before being substituted to a standing ovation.
West Ham struggle without Payet

West Ham boss Slaven Bilic admitted before the game that his side faced a big challenge in covering for the absence of their “best player” Dimitri Payet, who has scored five goals and assisted three others since joining in the summer but faces three months out with an ankle injury.

They failed in this mission at White Hart Lane. The only time they really threatened the Tottenham goal while they were still in the game was when Kouyate benefitted from a lax piece of officiating to acrobatically volley an effort against the crossbar from an offside position.

Lanzini’s goal, while a fine finish into the roof of the net from a tight angle after being set up by Nikica Jelavic, was way too little, much too late.

Prior to that, Andy Carroll was a willing runner for the visitors, but he was largely left stranded in his lone forward role as West Ham fell to their second defeat in 10 games.

The only positive for the Hammers was a late run-out for midfielder Alex Song, making his first appearance of the season after recovering from ankle surgery.

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