Daily WHUFC News - 23rd February 2015

Sam bemoans Spurs 'luck'
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce claimed West Ham United were unfortunate to be denied a win at
White Hart Lane
22.02.2015

Sam Allardyce claimed West Ham United were hugely unfortunate to be denied
another famous victory at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. The Hammers looked to
be on course to make it three consecutive wins at White Hart Lane when
Senegal duo Cheikhou Kouyate and Diafra Sakho had the visitors 2-0 up going
into the final ten minutes. However, Spurs snatched an unlikely point
through Danny Rose's fortuitous looping finish and Harry Kane's 97th-minute
equaliser - tapped in after the striker had seen his penalty saved by
Adrian. A pulsating game of 39 efforts on goal saw both teams create chances
galore. Early on, Spurs were denied twice, with Adrian saving from Nabil
Bentaleb and Kane poking against the post. However, West Ham got stronger as
the half went on and took the lead when Kouyate nodded in Aaron Cresswell's
left-wing cross on 22 minutes. Sakho was denied by Hugo Lloris before the
same player volleyed in Mark Noble's cross on 62, seemingly putting the
Hammers in control. Enner Valencia was then denied by Lloris and Spurs came
roaring back late on. First, Rose's first-time shot bounced over Adrian,
then Alex Song was penalised by referee Jonathan Moss and Kane converted
after the Spaniard had kept his spot-kick out.

"It is very frustrating and a very lucky Tottenham because I think the first
goal was a huge slice of luck from their point of view," the manager
commented. "We had them nice and quiet and they weren't causing any real
problems, then that goal lifted the crowd because they had a chance. They
had a huge slice of fortune because he miss-hit the shot and it has bounced
over Adrian's head. "I thought we were going to see the game out nicely, but
we made a dreadful mistake when we put a hand on somebody in the box at that
late stage. When you're away from home there is huge pressure on the referee
and the player goes down brilliantly and the referee has to make a decision
and he gives a penalty. "It's a soft one, but it's given and a huge slice of
luck went Tottenham's way again because it's a brilliant save from Adrian
and it fell straight back to Harry Kane, who put it in. It's a real
disappointment for us because we were magnificent."

While he was left frustrated by the nature of Tottenham's goals, Big Sam was
happier with the way Kouyate and Sakho put their chances away. But, having
missed presentable opportunities to put the game out of Spurs' reach, the
manager was ultimately left with just one point instead of three after his
team squandered a lead for the fourth time in 2015. "The header was a
classic from Cheikhou and Diafra's finish was very good from a tight angle.
You have to say we had chances and could have scored more, but we missed
easier chances, including two at 1-0 that would have made it 2-0. "We should
have done enough to see it out at 2-0. It's a big disappointment and it's
been our Achilles heel since the turn of the year, getting in front and not
closing it out. "We were in front against West Brom, at Swansea and against
Man United, but drew them all 1-1, and now we've drawn this one 2-2."

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Reid proud of performance
WHUFC.com
Winston Reid was delighted to be back playing after returning from injury
22.02.2015

West Ham United defender Winston Reid said the Hammers can be proud of their
performance against Tottenham Hotspur, despite a last minute Harry Kane
equaliser. In an impressive display, the Hammers took a deserved lead as
Cheikhou Kouyate scored his third goal of the season with a powerful header
pass Hugo Lloris. The Hammers doubled their advantage in the 62nd minute
when Diafra Sakho finished well after a wonderful through ball by Mark
Noble. With ten minutes to go, Danny Rose halved the arrears as his shot
bounced off the turf and into the far right hand corner. Tottenham completed
the comeback deep into injury time as Harry Kane was on hand to score his
24th goal of the season as he tucked in the rebound after Adrian had saved
his penalty. Speaking after the game, Reid, who played his first game in
just under a month having recovered from injury, said: "We can take a lot of
pride in our performance. I thought we started really well today, especially
in the first 20 minutes. Cheik scored a good goal but by the end we were
just hanging on. "After they got one goal back we didn't keep the ball
perhaps as well as we should have done. I think fatigue was beginning to
show too because we didn't have the same energy levels in the last ten
minutes. They grew in confidence and scored another goal at the death, it
was disappointing from our point of view."

The 26-year-old New Zealand captain has been in good form for the Hammers
this season, and he put in a typically assured performance at the heart of
the defence. Having returned from injury, Reid completed the full 90
minutes, his 25th appearance of the season. He continued to say: "We've
conceded a few late goals this season, recently against Manchester United
and again today. Coming here we knew it was going to be tough and we had
chances to finish it off. Enner had a good chance and Adrian had to make
some fantastic saves. "It was nice to be back playing. I had a couple of
days training and I felt good so it was nice to be back out on the pitch.
"We won't let the season fizzle out, and I don't think today's result counts
as the season fizzling out. We're going to try and finish as high as we can,
that hasn't stopped from the start of the season. But we need to get the
results our performances deserve."

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Tottenham 2 West Ham 2
22 February 2015
Last updated at 14:55
By Dominic Raynor
BBC Sport

Harry Kane won a penalty and scored with the last kick of the game to earn
Tottenham a draw against West Ham. Kane's 96th-minute penalty was saved but
he reacted quickest to give Spurs an unlikely point at White Hart Lane. West
Ham had led 2-0 through goals from Diafra Sakho and Cheikhou Kouyate with
just nine minutes left to play. Danny Rose's mis-hit long-range shot set up
the comeback before Kane, who was felled by Alex Song, pounced to score his
24th goal of the season. Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino made six changes to
the side that drew 1-1 with Fiorentina in the last 32 of the Europa League
in midweek, as he prepared for the second match of a demanding schedule of
six games in 17 days that includes Thursday's return leg in Florence and
next Sunday's League Cup final against Chelsea. With Spurs also chasing
Champions League qualification via a top-four finish in the Premier League,
Pochettino recalled top-scorer Kane for this London derby but opted to rest
his other star performer this season, Christian Eriksen. Spurs started in
typically quick fashion as Nabil Bentaleb twice tested West Ham goalkeeper
Adrian with long-range efforts before Kane struck the post in an opening
10-minute spell in which Spurs enjoyed 82% possession.

The late, late show
Harry Kane's goal was the second latest in the Premier League this season at
95mins 57sec, with only Martin Skrtel's being later(96mins 05secs). However,
it was the robust-tackling Hammers who took the lead on 22 minutes when
Mousa Dembele lost possession on the edge of his own box and midfielder
Kouyate rose between two defenders to powerfully head home Aaron Cresswell's
cross. That proved to be Dembele's key contribution to the match as he was
replaced at half-time by Eriksen, who had started Tottenham's last 34
Premier League games and notched 11 goals and four assists in all
competitions this season. But it was West Ham who continued to create the
better chances and after Sakho had squandered a one-on-one with Hugo Lloris,
the Senegal striker made no mistake at the back post on 62 minutes,
squeezing in Mark Noble's cross for his 11th goal of the season. West Ham
looked set for a first victory in four Premier League games to ease the
pressure on manager Sam Allardyce, whose future had been the subject of
speculation following a humiliating 4-0 FA Cup loss to West Brom in midweek.

Down to the wire

Tottenham have won 13 points from the final five minutes of matches - a
Premier League high. However, Spurs had other ideas and after Rose had
halved the deficit with his fortuitous strike, Kane once again stepped
forward as Spurs' saviour this season. The striker went down in the box
under the slightest pressure from Song and after seeing his penalty saved by
Adrian kept his composure to slot home the rebound for the Premier League's
sixth-placed side.

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino: "I think we deserved more than point. We
had 21 or 22 shots. We created many chances. We had possession of ball. "But
after they scored they created chances on counter-attack, they have very
fast players up front. But in general, if we analyse, we are better than
them. "In the second half I thought some decisions were against us - the
second goal was offside. But we need to finish better and score more goals.
"I think we showed character - that's the most important thing. Going into
the last 10 minutes at 2-0 down, to finish the game 2-2 is something to be
proud of."

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce: "I thought we were going to see the game
through nicely but we made a huge mistake at the end. Whether it's a soft
penalty or it isn't, it is something we shouldn't have done. "It's a real
disappointment but it was a magnificent performance. The reason we lost the
game was a bit of luck for them. We should have done enough at 2-0 up to see
it out. That's been our Achilles heel since the turn of the year. We were in
front against West Brom and drew 1-1, we were in front against Manchester
United and drew 1-1, and we were in front at Swansea and drew 1-1. "I'm not
blaming Harry Kane for going down in the box - we should do more of that.
We're an honest team and we've only got one penalty this season. We're not
getting rewards for our honesty."

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Sam Allardyce angry at 'NFL timekeeping' in Spurs draw
BBc.co.uk

West Ham were denied a win at Tottenham because the referee played too much
added time, says manager Sam Allardyce. Spurs drew 2-2 after Harry Kane's
late penalty was saved and he scored the rebound with the last kick of the
game. But asked if the whistle should have gone immediately after Adrian's
save, Allardyce said: "The answer is yes. But he [referee Jon Moss] wouldn't
be brave enough to do that at home would he?" "So we're doing NFL now aren't
we. I'd like a timekeeper to be honest."

In American football's NFL, the clock stops when the ball goes out of play,
meaning a 60-minute game lasts much longer and the game can also run on
after the final whistle until the ball is dead. "He [the referee] will say
there was still two seconds to go," the Hammers boss said. "He will say when
the penalty was taken, there were five seconds left, when the rebound came
off there were three second left."

West Ham, looking for a third straight win at Tottenham, were leading 2-0
with just 10 minutes remaining thanks to goals from Cheikhou Kouyate and
Diafra Sakho. But Danny Rose struck to reduce the deficit before Kane, who
scored his 24th goal of the season, was brought down in the box by Alex Song
in the last moments of five minutes of stoppage time. Allardyce claimed Kane
had "fallen over" as Spurs were "desperate" to win the penalty, but said
Song had been foolish to give Moss a decision to make. "From our point of
view, Alex has to keep his hands off him because he's going to feel that
contact and take to the floor. He's got to. "Whether it's the right decision
or not, it's the way football is today. If we're to learn anything by it, we
have to do the same as what Tottenham do more often, because we stay on our
feet and don't get fouls and they get touched and go down and they do get
fouls. In the end it's make a difference."

The result keeps West Ham eighth in the Premier League table, five points
behind sixth placed Spurs.

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Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 West Ham Utd
KUMb.com
Filed: Sunday, 22nd February 2015
By: Staff Writer

West Ham were cruelly denied all three points at White Hart Lane this
afternoon after the in-form Harry Kane scored in the sixth minute of
added-on time to rescue a point for a lucky Tottenham.

However it was a contentious equaliser according to some, who claimed
post-match that the goal should not have been allowed to stand given that
Kane scored a rebound from a missed penalty deep into injury time.

With a minimum of five minutes added-on time having previously been
signalled by fourth official Mike Dean, Kane's effort crossed the line with
95 minutes and 57 seconds on the clock - leading to some questioning whether
referee Jon Moss should have blown the whistle upon his penalty being saved
by West Ham's Spanish goalkeeper Adrian and before the striker had the
opportunity to convert the rebound.

Whilst the additional time added on is a minimum requirement, there was
little to suggest the official was justified in adding yet another minute on
top of the five indicated - meaning that technically, Moss should have blown
the moment Adrian saved the spot kick.

Althuogh Kane's effort only rescued a point for his team, the goal was a
sickening blow to West Ham who had looked good value for all three points
prior to that moment.

Cheik Kouyate had given West Ham a first half lead after 22 minutes when
some excellent work on the left flank involving Alex Song, Stewart Downing
and Aaron Cresswell gave the Senegal midfielder the opportunity to score
from point blank range with a header that flew into the roof of the net.

And the Hammers doubled their advantage with 62 minutes on the clock when
Sakho - who, moments earlier had opted for personal glory, rather than
squaring a pass to Enner Valencia who had the entire goal at his mercy -
scored from an acute angle to give West Ham what appeared at the time to be
an unassailable lead.

The turning point came when Allardyce decided to replace the effective Mark
Noble moments after he had narrowly escaped a second booking for a rash
challenge. The midfielder was walking a tightrope having been booked for an
innocuous challenge in the first half, a minor shirt tug that happens many
times every game.

He was replaced by Carlton Cole, with Kevin Nolan - booed off by fans at
West Brom last week - left on the bench. Morgan Amalfitano, who would have
offered another option, was absent having been sent off at the Hawthorns
last weekend.

Buoyed by the removal of the industrious Noble, the home side halved the
deficit nine minutes ahead of the end of normal time when Danny Rose mis-hit
a volley that wrong-footed Adrian and looped over the 'keeper into the
corner of the net.

Despite conceding that goal, it appeared as if West Ham had managed to hold
on to all three points - until the controversy of the final few seconds of
added on time.

The penalty decision itself was a soft one, with Alex Song - who has been
out of sorts since Christmas - unlucky to be penalised for tripping Kane -
who, as is too often the case these days, went down at the slightest hint of
a challenge - as he entered the area.

Hammers' hearts were briefly lifted when Kane struck his spot kick straight
at Adrian, who pushed it away - but only straight into the path of the
22-year-old, who placed it beyond the 'keeper to steal a point for
Tottenham.

Despite failing to hold on for the win, the 2-2 draw means West Ham have now
played the teams in fourth, fifth and sixth place in the Premier League in
their last three outings and avoided defeat on each occasion. On the reverse
side, none of those have resulted in three points - and on two of those
three occasions, points have been dropped in injury time.

Plenty for Sam Allardyce to chew over as he and his squad look forward to
the visit of struggling Crystal Palace to the Boleyn next weekend.

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Harry Kane's injury-time goal earns Spurs a 2-2 draw with West Ham
Last Updated: 22/02/15 7:16pm
SSN

Harry Kane missed an injury-time penalty but converted the rebound as
Tottenham snatched a dramatic 2-2 draw against West Ham at White Hart Lane.
West Ham had held a two-goal lead through Cheikhou Kouyate and Diafra Sakho
with 10 minutes remaining but Danny Rose's scuffed shot set up a grandstand
finish and then Kane - brought down by Alex Song - struck at the second
attempt, six minutes into time added on.
Tottenham, who have earned 16 points from losing positions this season,
remain three points off the top four in seventh, while the visitors sit a
place back after being denied what would have been a first victory in four
Premier League games. Kane - now with 24 goals to his name this season -
was recalled alongside Moussa Dembele and Ryan Mason after starting the
midweek draw against Fiorentina on the bench, boss Mauricio Pochettino keen
to keep legs fresh for a gruelling schedule that includes next weekend's
Capital One Cup final. The home side started the game brightly with Nabil
Bentaleb recording the first shot on target in the eighth minute, Adrian
pushing the ball around his right-hand post. Kane followed that up moments
later when he tried to cheekily chip the West Ham keeper but failed to get a
proper strike on the ball. Kouyate gave Sam Allardyce's men the lead against
the run of play in the 22nd minute. A good run down the left saw Aaron
Cresswell deliver a pinpoint cross into the box and the midfielder outjumped
Eric Dier and Jan Vertonghen to head home. Harry Kane missed an injury-time
penalty but converted the rebound as Tottenham snatched a dramatic 2-2 draw
against West Ham at White Hart Lane
Cresswell was causing problems again six minutes later but this time Spurs
were alert to the danger and cleared the ball. Spurs struggled to create any
real chances in the first-half and their passing looked disjointed as time
went on. Enner Valencia should have doubled the visitors' lead just before
the hour when he beat Kyle Walker for pace before unleashing a shot from
just outside the box, but Dier and Vertonghen were there to block it with
their bodies and keep the score at 1-0.

West Ham finally increased their lead two minutes after the hour as Sakho
got his first away goal since October 18. The forward started the move when
his cross-shot bounced across the box and Mark Noble - on hand to pick up
the loose ball - allowed Sakho to knock it past Hugo Lloris at the near
post. That appeared to the belated impetus that Spurs needed as Kane had a
goal ruled out for offside, before Adrian saved low to his left from
substitute Christian Eriksen's dipping free-kick. Nine minutes from time the
assured Adrian made his first mistake of the game as he punched Erik
Lamela's shot away but mistimed his jump, allowing Rose's effort to sneak
in. Allardyce fumed at lengthy stoppage-time as Spurs continued to attack
and with seconds left, Kane - running into the box - was caught by Alex
Song.
The referee pointed to the spot and when Adrian parried his spot-kick, the
in-form striker was alert enough to send the rebound home.

Tottenham: Lloris (7), Walker (6), Dier (6), Vertonghen (7), Rose (7), Mason
(7), Bentaleb (6), Townsend (6), Dembele (6), Lamela (6), Kane (7).
Used subs: Soldado (6), Chadli (6), Eriksen (7)

West Ham: Adrian (7), Jenkinson (7), Reid (6), Tomkins (6), Cresswell (8),
Noble (7), Song (6), Kouyate (7), Downing (6), Valencia (7), Sakho (7).
Used subs: Jarvis (5), Collins (5), Cole (5)

Man of the match: Aaron Cresswell

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Sam Allardyce blames referee and Tottenham after West Ham concede late
equaliser
Last Updated: 22/02/15 5:54pm
SSN

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce hit out at both the Tottenham players and
referee Jon Moss after a late Harry Kane equaliser cost his another win at
White Hart Lane. The visitors, hoping for a third straight victory at Spurs,
were deservedly leading 2-0 with just 10 minutes remaining thanks to goals
from Cheikhou Kouyate and Diafra Sakho. But Danny Rose struck to reduce the
arrears before Kane was brought down in the box by Alex Song in the fifth
minute of injury time. Kane stepped up to take the penalty and though Adrian
parried his initial effort, he buried the rebound. That proved to be the
last meaningful kick of the game but Allardyce was left fuming at referee
Moss, as well as the Spurs players, whom he accused of going to ground too
easily.

Asked if Moss should have blown for full-time immediately after Adrian had
saved the penalty, Allardyce replied: "The answer to that is yes, but he
wouldn't be brave enough to do that at home would he? "He'll say there were
still two seconds to go. He will say when the penalty was taken, there were
five seconds left, when the rebound came off there were three seconds left.
So we're doing NFL now aren't we? I'd like a time-keeper to be perfectly
honest with you. "From our point of view, Alex has to keep his hands off him
because he's going to feel that contact and take to the floor. He's got to.
No-one is in doubt that when you're losing at that stage of the game and you
know you're not going to score because he's kicked it too far. "You're going
to take the chance (by going to ground) and the referee gives him the
opportunity to take the penalty - he wasn't good enough to score that but
lucky enough to get the rebound."

Straight after the game, the former Bolton manager said: "You can argue
whether it's enough contact from Alex's arm or whether it's not, but when
you're desperate like Tottenham are and you get touched, a player's going to
fall over and ask the referee to make a decision.
"Whether it's the right decision or not, it's the way football is today. If
we're to learn anything by it, we have to do the same as what Tottenham do
more often, because we stay on our feet and don't get fouls and they get
touched and go down and they do get fouls. In the end it's make a
difference."

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Sam Allardyce blasts Tottenham players for ''falling over'' after West Ham's
late penalty heartbreak, adding "maybe we should too"
14:49, 22 February 2015 By Aaron Flanagan
West Ham gave away a two-goal lead after Harry Kane bagged a 96th minute
penalty, following a clumsy challenge from Alex Song in the area
The Mirror

Sam Allardyce has blasted Tottenham's 'desperate' players for 'falling over'
in order to deny West Ham victory at White Hart Lane.
The Hammers had led 2-0 through goals from Cheikhou Kouyate and Diafra
Sakho, but a Danny Rose strike before Harry Kane's 96th minute rebounded
penalty earned Spurs a point. But the controversial penalty decision in
stoppage time left Big Sam raging, as he believed there was minimal contact
in the challenge. Kane was inside the box but running away from goal when
Alex Song appeared to force the in-form England star to the ground with a
push in the back. And Allardyce says that it is becoming too easy for
players to fall to the ground in order to force the referees into decisions.
Kane himself got up and took the spot kick, which was awarded by Jon Moss,
firing home the rebound after Adrian's initial save. Allardyce told the BBC:
"You can't put your hands on anyone today otherwise they will go to ground
and make the referee's mind up. "You can argue whether Alex Song has made
enough contact for Harry Kane to go down, but when you're desperate like
Tottenham are, you get touched and the player is going to fall over. "Maybe
we should be more like Tottenham - we stay on our feet. They're so lucky
today. One with the first goal - Danny Rose has mishit it - and the second
goal Adrian saved the penalty and it has gone straight back to Harry Kane."

But the under-fire Hammers boss has praised the "magnificent" performance of
his side, despite not taking full points from White Hart Lane for a second
successive year.He admits that the foul for the penalty could have been
prevented. "I thought we were going to see the game through nicely but we
made a huge mistake at the end. Whether it's a soft penalty or it isn't, it
is something we shouldn't have done," he added. "It's a real disappointment
but it was a magnificent performance. The reason we lost the game was a bit
of luck for them. We should have done enough at 2-0 up to see it out. That's
been our Achilles heel since the turn of the year. We were in front against
West Brom and drew 1-1, we were in front against Manchester United and drew
1-1, and we were in front at Swansea and drew 1-1. "I'm not blaming Harry
Kane for going down in the box - we should do more of that. We're an honest
team and we've only got one penalty this season. We're not getting rewards
for our honesty."

Meanwhile, Kane believes that when things are going your way, you continue
to get the rub of the green - as proven by the way the ball fell for him on
the rebound from the penalty kick. He said: "The ball bounced nicely for me,
I got in front of Alex Song, was about to shoot and got tumbled over. It was
a nervous penalty to take but when your luck is in your luck is in. My heart
was in my mouth when the keeper saved the first shot but it fell nicely for
the rebound. "I think we deserved the draw, we dug deep at 2-0 down and it
shows our character."

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Sympathy for Sam…but a team that can't win
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on February 22, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

I am suffering an unfamiliar emotion this afternoon – I feel rather sorry
for Sam Allardyce and certainly am not in a mood to blame the man for
today's result at White Hart Lane. Nor do I blame Harry Kane for grabbing a
soft penalty at the end although I hold Alex Song fully responsible for
today's debacle. This man surely has to know at this stage of his career
that laying hands on the back of a striker moving AWAY FROM GOAL inside the
penalty area in the last seconds is dangerous bordering on stupid. Today's
game, however, cannot and shouldn't be taken in isolation. We have now
managed one victory in eight games and for every decent performance we get a
less than average display.

Sam himself in assessing the game today said: "We were in front against West
Brom and drew 1-1, we were in front against Manchester United and drew 1-1,
and we were in front at Swansea and drew 1-1." Don't ask me what the problem
is because the manager himself doesn't seem to know how to solve it. But a
team throwing games away at the death is not good and whether the pro-Sam
lobby like it or not, in the end it becomes his issue simply because he's
the boss. He is the man charged with getting results and to see a senior pro
make a colossal error of judgement in helping Kane to go down needs some
addressing. I would like to have been a fly on the wall of the dressing room
after the game but fair play he refused to blame the bloke publicly. The
bottom line is simple! The longer this win-less run continues the more the
pressure builds because the hard luck stories from individual games
disappear within a couple of days as has been seen with the Manchester
United match for example.

An overall picture is emerging of a team that has forgotten how to win and
frets even when it looks as though it might. The first text I received after
the game read: "See you threw it away again – that team has a problem," At
the end of the day ( as they love to say ) I am afraid, love him or hate
him, it really is a managerial problem!

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Board plan for 'aggressive' manager action
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on February 22, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

West Ham's board will "aggressively" tackle the appointment of a new manager
towards the middle of April. ClaretandHugh understands the board has no
limit on the number of candidates they are ready to consider but the list
will be narrowed down to the most suitable three or four closer to the end
of season. The club expect to be ready to move in with offers for their top
candidates in late April or early May.
We have learned, however, that although Rafa Benitez was virtually
everybody's top choice, he is unlikely to make the move. We were told: "The
club would love him but he's not overly keen on coming and is a £6 million
manager minimum anyway. Slaven Bilic is very much in the frame but agents
are looking right across Europe at suitable candidates." "They are on a
timetable as the club will be ready to move aggressively once they have the
candidates in place."

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Allardyce: "Our Achilles heel"
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on February 22, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Bitterly disappointed Sam Allardyce cut a forlorn figure after the Irons had
been caught in the dying seconds. And it was hard not to feel sorry for the
manager as the team trooped off at the end devastated by the late leveller
He said: "I thought we were going to see the game through nicely but we made
a huge mistake at the end. Whether it's a soft penalty or it isn't, it is
something we shouldn't have done. "It's a real disappointment but it was a
magnificent performance. The reason we lost the game was a bit of luck for
them. "We should have done enough at 2-0 up to see it out. That's been our
Achilles heel since the turn of the year. We were in front against West Brom
and drew 1-1, we were in front against Manchester United and drew 1-1, and
we were in front at Swansea and drew 1-1. "I'm not blaming Harry Kane for
going down in the box – we should do more of that. We're an honest team and
we've only got one penalty this season. We're not getting rewards for our
honesty."

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Bitter blow as Irons get caught late again
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on February 22, 2015 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh

Spurs 2 Irons 2

Alex Song's last minute challenge on Harry Kane gave Spurs a penalty and an
equaliser they didn't deserve after the Hammers had led by two goals. Cheik
Kouyate headed home a superb 21st minute goal and Diafra Sakho put them
further ahead with a fabulous close range strike before the north Londoners
dragged themselves back with two fortunate strikes. First Rose drove his
shot into the ground from distance and with Adrian mistiming his jump saw
the ball fly past him for the arrears to be reduced. Then came the Song
challenge on Kane and after Adrian had saved the penalty the striker
followed up to strike home the leveller with the last kick of the game. The
Cameroonian had bundled into Kane's back when he would have been better off
allowing him to continue running away from goal. It's arguable whether there
was enough contact but it's a pointless discussion – two points had gone
down the swanee.

So once again the Irons had failed to see out a game that they had bossed
from the 15th minute onwards but it's hard to find fault after a game which
saw them at their best. However, these late equalisers are becoming too
regular and the count is now one league win in eight! Sam Allardyce argued
after the game that West Ham could almost take a leaf out of the Spurs book
and go down themselves in similar situations to Kane's thus forcing referees
to make a decision. He commented: "We don't do it enough but Spurs can
consider themselves very luck with both goals. it was desperately
disappointing" Spurs had started in the ascendancy and Adrian was forced
into a fine save from Bentaleb when he flew to his left to palm a rocket
shot around the post. And in the tenth minute Kane charged onto a ball from
the back but after some lazy defending by Reid and Tomkins but saw his
flicked effort hit the post. The Hammers found their feet after the two
early scares and on 17 minutes Cresswell fired in a long range shot which
flew wide. But four minutes later the left back was instrumental in setting
up the lead with a great run and cross which Kouyate thudded into the back
of the net with a great header. Rose was close for Spurs at the other end
when he dived forward to peroduce a brav e header from Kane's chip forward
but the ball beat the bar.

As play switched to the other end Creswell's fine cross was met bny Valencia
but Lloris advanced bravely to block. Kane was again at the heart of things
though producing a neat ball for Mason but his shot was driven wide of an
upright. Noble held his head in frustration minutes later when he tried his
luck with a fierce goal bound shot which which thudded into a defender and
flew behind. The Hammers were a better team throughout the second period and
could have gone two up early in the second half when Sakho tried his luck
with Valencia much better positioned to take advantage. But when the
Senegalese hitman fired home from a right angle from Noble's far post free
kick in the 61st minute, it looked all over. Valencia then saw Lloris save
well before Noble and the striker made early departures to be replaced by
Carlton Cole and Matt Jarvis. The hosts piled on the pressure before the
goals but at the end of 90 minutes there wouldn't have been many who would
argue that the Irons were desperately unlucky not to take all three points.

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