Tottenham Hotspur (2) 3 v 1 (1) West Ham United
9 Zouma (o.g.) 35 Benrahma, assist Dawson
24 Son, assist Kane
88 Son, assist Kane
Yellows: no one Dawson Referee Anthony Taylor.
Played Sunday 20 March 2022 at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, attendance 58,695.
Tottenham Hotspur moved up the Premier League (PL) table after a 3-1 win over West Ham United to 5th and may be emerging as the strongest competitors for the 4th UEFA Champions League place alongside Premier London Derbies (PLDs) rivals Arsenal. Spurs deadly duo Harry Kane and Son Heung-min combined for all 3 home goals, even the first, an own goal by Hammer’s Kurt Zouma coming from their combination. That’s numbers 38 and 39 for the all-time PL scorers/assists tally.
Another Spurs duo, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and new-comer Rodrigo Bentancur, are becoming a force to be reckoned with in mid-field. It was maybe the understandable fatigue of the Hammer’s usually dominant mid-field duo of Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice, following their extra-time win over Spanish Club Sevilla in the UEFA Europa League, which muted West Ham United’s performance. That’s now 10 consecutive games at Tottenham grounds for David Moyes as Manager of various PL Clubs without a win.
Elsewhere it was FA Cup Quarter-Final weekend for 2 PLDs Clubs – Crystal Palace and Chelsea. The Eagles brushed ex-Blues Frank Lampard’s Everton aside 4-1, and The Blues, under the calm and strong guidance of Thomas Tuchel won 0-2 at EFL Championship side Middlesborough. They are now drawn together for a Wembley Semi-Final. Chelsea supporters may be able to attend although no money will go to their sanctioned owner Roman Abramovich as Putin’s war rages on. Fittingly it was Ukrainian Andriy Yarmolenko’s extra-time goal which put the Hammer’s through to a UEFA Europa League Quarter-Final. Tony Cascarino’s FA Cup Team of the Week (The Game, The Times, Monday 21 March 2022) had 5 Palace and 4 Chelsea players in it!
There are no PLDS matches this weekend, so until next time “Keep Safe” Andrew at PLDs.