to lose both looks like carelessness.
West ham lost their second cup final in less than a fortnight, as a much changed Spurs side dumped them out of the League/Carabao Cup at their own ground, to move on to the quarter finals.
Mark Noble has said before the league meeting that Spurs and West Ham had had similar types of seasons, well up to a point, after that game they’d both won one game at the London Stadium, now Spurs have won two this season, won three in a row, something West ham have struggled to do.
With the league defeat to City just two days previously it was, unsurprisingly, a much changed side for the League Cup but this was a bit of a show of strength of the squad as only Gazzaniga, in goal and the defenders Walker-Peters and Foyth, aren’t full internationals.
Two of them had pretty damn good games. Walker-Peters was given a tough time of it but did OK, while Foyth and Gazzaniga had very good games. Gazzaniga surely has moved ahead of the static Vorm, while Foyth made a few excellent tackles in the box. Ones where if he’d got them wrong would have been very costly. He didn’t, he got them all right.
Two others were thankfully back starting, Dele and Eriksen, they played pivotal roles in the victory. As did the returning Son, who had missed the last two league games and hadn’t quite been firing since his return from his success in the Asian games.
Spurs have sorely missed Dele’s link up play, both his assists for Son’s brace of goals may have come via deflections but we haven’t had anyone really playing those balls during his injury absence. For all the people claiming Llorente did nothing, well, he started the move and played another pivotal role playing the ball to Dele, his flick and Sonny was in, one band and it was one nil. He finished it off with his left not like a man who hadn’t scored for Spurs since March, through 19 games in all competitions.
It was the same with his second, again Llorente played a part, Dele played the ball through, a deflection and Son was through on goal, no stopping him as he rounded the keeper and slotted home. He was smiling, we all were. Spurs always need that second goal. West ham had caused problems that thankfully Foyth and Gazzaniga snuffed out.
They did get one back, after another excellent challenge by Foyth led to a corner. Spurs just can’t seem to do well at corners. With the board about to go up showing Sissoko was about to come on and their tails up a third was required. Llorente was about to come off for the Frenchman when Eriksen lifted a ball into the area for N’Koudou, it was cut out for a corner and from there the Dane actually managed to beat the first defender and find a Spurs player. The big Spaniard finished it off brilliantly. What were they saying about him again?
A good victory, nice to get a run out for a number of the fringe players, who might not be so fringe. More time in for Dele and Eriksen and a cup quarter final against the Woolwich mob waiting…