Mauricio Pochettino eyes top four finish after Harry Kane fires Tottenham back into Champions League contention
Tottenham Hotspur 4, West Ham 1
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino could not hide his pride after Spurs blew away West Ham to move to within two points of the Premier League’s top four and north London rivals Arsenal on Sunday.
England striker Harry Kane’s brace, plus goals from defenders Toby Alderweireld and Kyle Walker lit up a performance that was a perfect demonstration of their manager’s high octane playing philosophy.
“The best way to describe my feeling is ‘very proud’,” said Pochettino. “You could feel from the touchline the players believed in the way we play. We knew from the group, you share the same philosophy and the way you play is the best in the world.”
The Argentinian said the result, which extended their unbeaten run to 12 top-flight games, demonstrated Spurs had enough quality to finish in the top four but cautioned against talk of winning the title.
“It’s true that we showed from the beginning of the season that we are consistent but maybe for us to try to win the title we need more,” he added. “It’s difficult to guess today what will happen in four or five months.”
West Ham’s heaviest defeat of the season came in their first match without the injured Dimitri Payet but manager Slaven Bilic said the maestro’s absence could be no excuse.
“We have enough quality in our team to replace him and play better than this,” said Bilic, whose team sit one place behind Spurs in sixth. “It can’t be up to one player to have such a difference in performances from two weeks ago to now.”
Tottenham were patient in the opening exchanges but did not relent once midfielder Christian Eriksen had forced goalkeeper Adrian into his first of eight saves after 20 minutes.
Soon after forward Heung-Min Son, a probing presence throughout, set up England starlet Dele Alli for a shot which squirmed into the path of Kane, who duly lashed home to put Spurs ahead.
West Ham almost responded immediately when midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate’s improvised bicycle kick diverted captain Mark Noble’s deflected shot onto the crossbar.
Yet that was the closest Bilic’s men came to getting on the scoresheet until it was too late, and soon after they found the deficit doubled when Alderweireld evaded three defenders to head home an Eriksen corner.
Alli and Kane missed chances before the latter killed the contest with a powerful drive from the edge of the area five minutes after the restart.
Eriksen, Son and substitute Ryan Mason all kept Adrian busy before Kyle Walker exchanged passes with Son and stroked home a fourth with the outside of his boot.
West Ham schemer Manuel Lanzini capitalised on a wayward Walker pass to beat the full-back and smash an 87th-minute consolation goal high past Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.