Tottenham Hotspur 3 West Ham United 3
Son 1, Balbuena 82,
Kane 8, 16 Sánchez 85 (og),
Lanzini 90+4
Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Sunday 18 October 2020
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Aurier, Alderweireld, Sánchez, Reguilón, Højbjerg, Sissoko, Ndombele (Winks 73), Son (Locas Moura 80), Kane, Bergwijn (Bale 73)
Subs not used: Hart (GK), Doherty, Davies, Vinicius
West Ham United: Fabiański, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Coufal, Rice, Souček, Masuaku (Snodgrass 90), Bowen, Antonio (Yarmolenko 77), Fornals (Lanzini 77)
Subs not used: Randolph (GK), Fredericks, Diop, Noble
West Ham United came from three goals down to rescue the most dramatic of points at Tottenham Hotspur in an all-time Premier League classic.
The Hammers trailed 3-0 as early as the 16th minute and were still down by that scoreline with just eight minutes remaining, yet still they managed to claw back reward for their efforts.
Fabián Balbuena got the comeback started with a towering header in the 82nd minute, then Davinson Sánchez’s own goal three minutes later gave them real hope.
It was hope that was justified too as Manuel Lanzini sent a pile-driver of a 25-yard shot into the top right hand corner of Hugo Lloris to spark joyous scenes among those in Claret & Blue.
Tottenham could not believe they had let their position of power slip, but the Hammers did not crumble after the hosts’ early onslaught and their resilience was to be rewarded in quite crazy style.
Jarrod Bowen had the first shot of the game, finding Hugo Lloris’ gloves from the edge of the box, but play swung to the other end with Tottenham taking the lead with just 47 seconds on the clock.
Kane found his fellow forward Son in the left channel, and he did the rest, advancing into the box before shifting the ball onto his right foot and stroking into the bottom corner.
It would soon get worse for the visitors. A mere seven minutes later Son returned the favour to Kane, giving him the ball 25 yards from goal. Quick feet from the England captain allowed him to evade the Hammers’ challenge and make space for the shot which whistled through Angelo Ogbonna’s legs and gave Łukasz Fabiański no chance.
Spurs were not done there, and the third goal arrived just past the quarter-hour. Son was involved again, feeding the ball left to the overlapping Sergio Reguilón. He sent over a teasing cross for Kane to gobble up, guiding his header into the net.
Tottenham were ruthlessly efficient in the opening stages, scoring with all of their first three shots and they very nearly made it four ten minutes before the interval, Fabiański making an important intervention to prevent Son from scoring his second on the stretch.
The Hammers were left with a nigh-on impossible task, trailing by three at the break, but they started the second period brightly and Pablo Fornals could well have pulled one back five minutes after the restart.
The Spain midfielder could not get over the bounce of the ball, however, as it skipped up off the turf from Michail Antonio’s deflected shot, and his header from close in flew over the crossbar.
West Ham, to their credit, kept going and they found their way onto the scoresheet with eight minutes remaining.
Balbuena was the man with the goal, rising highest to plant a header into the net after Aaron Cresswell delivered a free-kick from wide on the left with precision.
Then, the Hammers set up a grandstand finish by forcing an own goal from Sánchez three minutes later. Vladimír Coufal’s low cross was a teasing one and the home defender could only turn into his own net.
It made for a nervy conclusion for the home side, and the Hammers made Gareth Bale pay for a miss at the start of injury time by levelling in the final minute of four added.
And what a goal it was too. Cresswell’s free-kick was half headed clear to Lanzini in a central position 25 yards out, and the Argentine could not have been more accurate with his shot, sending a rocket into the top right hand corner and rescuing the most unlikely of points for his side.