Daily WHUFC News - 24th September 2017

Hammers edged out in derby thriller
WHUFC.com
West Ham United 2 - 3 Tottenham Hotspur
Premier League

West Ham United produced a grandstand finish but were denied a share of the
spoils as Tottenham Hotspur edged a gripping content 3-2 at London Stadium.
The Hammers looked dead and buried when they trailed 3-0 with an hour played
to a Harry Kane double and Christian Eriksen's thumping finish but
Chicharito's headed goal and Serge Aurier's red card gave them a route back
into the contest. Cheikhou Kouyate's bullet header further reduced the
arrears and Spurs were hanging on, but hang on they did as the Hammers'
three-match unbeaten run came to an end. Chicharito, playing in a central
role with Marko Arnautovic and Michail Antonio flanking him, tried his luck
with an audacious 30 yard effort with eight minutes played, not clearing
Hugo Lloris' crossbar by much with the Spurs goalkeeper backpedalling. It
was a bright start from the hosts and Arnautovic slalomed his way through
the Spurs defence eight minutes later and looked poised to shoot, only for s
to produce a superb saving tackle. With 24 minutes on the clock, Tottenham
worked an opening down the Hammers left. Moussa Sissoko played in Aurier,
and his low cross looked perfect for Kane, but his touch took the ball wide.
It wouldn't have counted in any case, as the flag was raised for offside.
Moments later, Antonio went down with what appeared to be a muscle injury,
prompting a reshuffle from Slaven Bilic which saw Andy Carroll come on up
front and Chicharito move wide. It was Tottenham who struck first with 34
minutes on the clock when they pounced on loose midfield play from the
Hammers in the most devastating way possible. Eriksen fed Dele Alli wide on
the right, and his ball into the box was hit with power and precision,
allowing Kane to guide the ball into the bottom left hand corner. With their
next attack it was two. Joe Hart did well to spread himself and deny Alli,
but the ball broke perfectly for Kane to stroke home. The Hammers needed
something early in the second period to give them hope, but instead it was
the visitors who moved further in front on the hour. West Ham thought they
had got away with it when Kane's free-kick struck the base of the post, but
Aurier got the ball back into the box, and it dropped for Eriksen to ram a
first-time finish into the net.

Chicharito gave the home fans something to cheer five minutes later when he
peeled off his man to get on the end of Jose Fonte's flick-on from an
Arnautovic corner and guide his header beyond Lloris. It was the Mexican's
first London Stadium goal, and he nearly had another on 68 minutes when Mark
Noble picked him out from the right, but this time Lloris was positioned
well to grab his header. West Ham tails were up, and with 20 minutes to play
they were given a further boost when the visitors' Aurier picked up his
second yellow card for a foul on Carroll was was sent for an early bath.
Eleven minutes from time, the comeback was so nearly on when Chicharito
fashioned space for himself inside the box and unleashed a fierce shot at
goal, but Lloris got behind it to beat away. With three minutes to play, the
grandstand finish the crowd wanted was set up when Arthur Masuaku's wicked
cross was met with a thunderous header at the far post by Kouyate, giving
Lloris no chance. West Ham threw everything at their hosts, winning a couple
of corners, but could not force that vital third goal as Spurs held out.

West Ham United: Hart, Reid, Fonte (Masuaku 73), Ogbonna, Zabaleta, Noble
(C), Kouyate, Cresswell, Antonio (Carroll 28), Arnautovic (Ayew 66),
Chicharito
Subs: Adrian, Sakho, Byram, Rice
Goals: Chicharito 65, Kouyate 87
Booked: Chicharito, Ayew, Reid, Carroll

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris (C), Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Sanchez, Aurier,
Dier, Eriksen (Winks 73), Davies, Alli, Sissoko (Trippier 78), Kane
(Llorente 89)
Subs: Vorm, Son, Nkoudou, Walker-Peters
Goals: Kane 34, Kane 38, Eriksen 60
Booked: Aurier, Llorente, Dier
Sent-off: Aurier

Referee: Michael Oliver

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Bilic: Pride in defeat, penalty appeals and Antonio's injury
WHUFC.com

Slaven Bilic was proud of the way his players came close to pulling off a
miraculous Premier League comeback against Tottenham Hotspur. West Ham
United fell 3-0 down at London Stadium through two first-half goals from
Harry Kane and a third on the hour-mark from Christian Eriksen, while they
also lost Michail Antonio to a groin injury. However, rather than crumble,
the Hammers battled back and scored themselves through Chicharito and
Cheikhou Kouyate either side of Serge Aurier's red card, but could not quite
snatch a late leveller.

Here is what the manager had to say.

Pride and disappointment in defeat

West Ham looked dead and buried when Eriksen's low shot found the bottom
corner of Joe Hart's net on the hour-mark. To the Hammers credit, however,
they battled back and ended the game frantically trying to fashion an
unlikely equaliser. In the final analysis, the home side left themselves too
much to do, but Bilic took pride in the way his players did not give up in a
seemingly hopeless situation. "There is pride, but obviously we are
disappointed with the result," he said. "We started really well, we defended
well and in shape and we didn't give them those kinds of pockets they are
good at [playing in]. "Before the first goal we were in good
counter-attacking situations four or five times with Marko, Chicha or
Michail, and we had open space and three against three and good occasions,
but we didn't score or materialise those opportunities. "Then, as happens
against teams of that quality, we made a mistake in our half of the pitch
and their finishing was clinical. The rest of the first half, it was nowhere
near a 2-0 game in the first half. It's very hard to come back from 2-0.
"The second half, we started well, but then they hit the post and one good
shot it was 3-0 and we were in trouble. After that we came back with a goal,
we pressed them, changed the system and tried to get the advantage on the
wings and create two against one situations and make crosses, but some of
the were good and some of them were bad. "At the end we got back to 3-2. We
had enough time to create another chance but the game was very stop-start
with fouls and it was just time-wasting, to be fair. At the end we were very
disappointed with the game, but we took pride from our comeback." "Of
course, it is much better than to lose 3-2 and to have the crowd behind us
to the end big time and expecting, really, because it looked like if one
team was going to score, it was going to be us. "There is a big difference
than if you lost 5-1 or 4-0 like we were last year to losing 3-2 and in a
position where you are looking to score a goal. "Of course, though, we are
disappointed that we lost three goals in and lost the game."

'The first goal was key'

West Ham started the game well at London Stadium and could have opened the
scoring themselves had things fallen for them in the early stages. Marko
Arnautovic, for one, looked threatening down the left flank and went close
on a couple of occasions, including one strong run that appeared to be
halted by a foul by Aurier. However, the wind was taken out of the hosts'
sails in a five-minute spell before half-time, when lapses allowed Kane to
put Tottenham in control.
"We played really good and I thought we thought we were good, but then that
mistake happened in the middle of the pitch, but even then they were too far
from the goal and made a brilliant move with a great cross and a great
finish. "That happens when you play against the top teams, if you give them
a little chance, they create a chance and they score."

Penalty shouts

As mentioned above, West Ham were denied a possible penalty when
Arnautovic's shirt was pulled by Aurier with the game still goalless, and
that was not the only spot-kick shout the hosts had turned down by referee
Michael Oliver. Aurier also appeared to handle a cross midway through the
second half with Spurs leading 3-1, before Davinson Sanchez appeared to
shove Carroll with moments remaining and the Hammers desperately seeking an
equaliser. "For me Serge Aurier handled the ball and there was a tug on
Arnautovic in the first half," the manager observed. "There was also a nudge
on Andy Carroll on the last corner, I think from Sanchez. It was a free
header for Andy, so maybe there, but."

Antonio injury update

To add injury to insult, West Ham lost Antonio to a groin injury midway
through the first half, prompting the introduction of Andy Carroll and a
positional switch for Chicharito. When asked about the injury and its
knock-on effect, the manager explained that he wanted to retain the 3-4-3
formation that had served his team well in a victory over Huddersfield and
draw at West Bromwich Albion. "It is a groin," Bilic confirmed. "He felt it
a bit. He didn't pull it big time, but we have to scan it first to see how
big or how bad it is. "We are not taking a risk, as we are very cautious
about that. He passed a test on Friday - not on Saturday because it was an
early kick-off - and it was all-clear. We're not taking those kind of risks
here, knowing that it can harm him in the long term. It just happened and it
is in a different spot, not the same spot." "Antonio had to go off, so we
had to shuffle a bit. Andy needed a bit of time to get into the game and we
had to move Chicharito into another position because we wanted to stay in
that system that we played in the two games before Spurs. "Of course, it
hurts you to lose a player like Michail in a time that you are doing really
well, then they scored, but we should have scored the second goal before.
"Those five minutes after they scored the first we were a little bit lost,
so we needed half-time."

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Zabaleta: We never gave up
WHUFC.com

Pablo Zabaleta hailed the Hammers' character in pushing Tottenham Hotspur to
the limit at London Stadium on Saturday, but admitted that could not mask
the feeling of disappointment after their London rivals edged a five-goal
derby. West Ham seemed dead and buried when they trailed 3-0 after an hour,
but they dragged themselves back into the contest with two headers from
Chicharito and Cheikhou Kouyate. That set up a grandstand finish, and
although the Hammers threw everything at their visitors, Mauricio
Pochettino's men stood firm, leaving Zabaleta to reflect on what might have
been. "Of course, it's a disappointing afternoon when you don't win," he
said. "It was a huge game for us, a derby, and we knew three points would
take us to a better position in the table, so it was not good enough in
terms of the result. "I thought we were playing really well until the first
goal, with great determination, but after they went 1-0 up the second goal
came very quickly. "They got the third goal after half time and it's so
difficult, but we did everything possible on the pitch to at least get a
draw. And we should take that - there were a lot of positive things apart
from the result. "We never gave up, we went for goals. We scored two and
there were a few minutes left in the game to try and equalise. "We had a
situation in the area when there might have been a push on Andy Carroll. It
reminded me a bit of my penalty against Southampton at the end of the game,
it was very similar, but different decisions and it's a shame because it
would have been a good chance to score a penalty."

The Hammers are at home against next week when they face Swansea City and
Zabaleta knows it is important to put this result behind them as quickly as
possible. He added: "We have another home game before the international
break and it's going to be a huge game for us. We know we're not in the best
position in the table and we want to be better. "We have to say thank you to
the fans for their support. Unfortunately we couldn't give them a great day,
but it's a moment to react as a team, as players, and come back strong next
weekend, to try and perform well enough to get the three points and let the
fans enjoy a good win."

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REF WATCH - MICHAEL OLIVER: WEST HAM VS SPURS
AUTHOR: SAMTWHWREF. PUBLISHED: 23 SEPTEMBER 2017 AT 6:39PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Written by SamRoyden - Referee Analysis

After scraping through against Huddersfield in our first home game of the
season and getting a point away at West Brom, we welcomed Spurs to the
London Stadium in a highly anticipated London rival.

The referee appointed for this fixture was Michael Oliver, who has started
the season really well especially handing last weeks London derby at
Stamford Bridge where he subsequently sent off David Luiz for a horrendous
two footed challenge.

I was impressed by Michael Olivier during the first half. Oliver was keen to
allow the game flow but blew for some careless fouls in the first ten
minutes to set his expectations for the game. Oliver was eagle eyed to see
some blocking from Spurs midfielder Sanchez at a Spurs corner which was
clearly a tactic from the training ground and Oliver was quick to stamp out.

I questioned a couple of offside decisions by both Simon Bennet and Stuart
Burt in the first half. A very strange decision from Mr Bennet by signalling
that Mark Noble was offside, when the West Ham midfielder was at least 10
yards behind the second to last defender when in fact it was Javier
Hernandez in the offside position but wasn't interfering with play.

There were question marks about whether Harry Kane was offside for his first
goal and he was definitely onside. When the ball was originally played by
Christian Eriksen, Kane was in an offside position but not interfering with
play as the ball was being played into the channels for Dele Alli, with Kane
more central to the goal, Alli was being kept onside by Jose Fonte. Kane
managed to get himself back onside once Angelo Ogbonna sprinted back into
position before Kane connected to Alli's cross.

West Ham had two penalty shouts in the first half and I think there is a
case for at least one of them but nowadays there is a grey area over
handball and whether it's deliberate or not. The first penalty appeal was
when Marco Arnautovic and Serge Aurier were battling into the penalty area,
both players with handfuls of each other shirts, before the Spurs right back
made a very well timed tackle. For me, it was six of one, half a dozen of
another. There was more of a case for the second penalty appeal than the
first but in my opinion I would have been harsh. Serge Aurier was involved
again and as he went up for a header, the ball hit his arm on his way down
after mistiming his jump. I don't believe this was deliberate handball as
the players momentum was on the way down and naturally the players arms were
coming down with the rest of his body.

Michael Oliver's player management was very good in the first half. Firstly,
Oliver was keen to speak to the former PSG man after a couple of fouls on
Kouyate and Cresswell in the opening 15 minutes. Oliver made the decision to
speak to Serge Aurier and Kane and gave Aurier his final warning before
further punishment. Oliver controlled the situation well after some handbags
with Mark Noble and Sissoko. Instead of branding yellow cards after some
words between the pair and coming together over Mark Noble's challenge,
Oliver kept his calm and gave them both just a swift talking too.

It was a feisty second half that Michael Oliver had to control, with both
teams pushing and shoving in the final minutes of added time. There were
another two penalty appeals in the second half, one for each team with Spurs
appeal early on. Dele Alli went down under pressure from West Ham's Winston
Reid - for me Alli went down a little too easily and the contact made by
Reid wasn't obvious from my perspective and wasn't enough to tumble to the
floor.

West Ham's third penalty appeal on the other hand was a penalty in my
opinion and I am somewhat disappointed that the assistant referee missed a
slight, but obvious push on a jumping Andy Carroll. It's very easy to say
that a nudge on a player like Andy Carroll wouldn't make much of a
difference, but when the player is running and jumping at speed, the
slightest of unexpected nudge, would put you a player off and throw off
their concentration. It was difficult to see Michael Oliver's positioning as
he is likely to be placed between the far end of the 18 yard box and the D
of the penalty area for corners but the assistant referee would have been
directly in line with Carroll and other members of the defence team on the
goal line.

Serge Aurier should have no complaints for being sent off for the
accumulation of fouls and for a very unnecessary challenge from behind which
gave Michael Oliver one of the easiest decisions he had to make in the
match. It was on 64 minutes when Michael Oliver issued Serge Aurier his
first yellow card of the game for persistent infringement of the laws and
pointed to the various positions on the pitch where fouls have occurred. Six
minutes later, the former PSG man brought down Andy Carroll with a nasty
challenge from behind and Oliver was on the spot to give him his marching
orders. Oliver's player management, particular with Serge Aurier, was
excellent throughout the game.

There were a flurry of cautions at the end of the game when handbags were
being thrown after an obvious push on Andy Carrol was missed by Micheal
Oliver and in frustration Andy Carroll barged back into Eric Dier which was
given as a foul by Mr Oliver - this subsequently saw a 22 man involvement of
pushing and shoving. Nothing too sinister from either set of players that I
could see but unsporting with time deep into extra time. The FA are keen to
ensure players and teams are controlled during a game and no doubt both
teams will be fined for not controlling their players. Andy Carroll, Winston
Reid, Eric Dier and Fernando Llorente were cautioned for their involvement.

Overall, I thought that Micheal Oliver had a very good game and he does set
the benchmark within the Elite Select Group of referees. His player
management, control and composer during games is excellent, which put him
heads and shoulders above the rest.

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