MY ACCOUNT
Son Heung-min and Harry Kane turned on the derby style in a 3-1 win over West Ham as Tottenham jumped to fifth place in the Premier League.
The pair created the chaos that resulted in an early Kurt Zouma own goal, before teaming up again when Kane’s pass teed up Son to put the hosts two ahead.
Said Benrahma hauled West Ham back in the game, but David Moyes’ men could not find a leveller and Son finished them off in the 88th minute.
A fourth win in five Premier League games means Tottenham are now ahead of the Hammers and Manchester United, albeit three points adrift of great rivals Arsenal in fourth. In Kane and Son, Spurs have two of the best, and they could yet carry Antonio Conte’s team into the Champions League.
Tottenham snatched a ninth-minute lead when Zouma turned the ball past Lukasz Fabianski after Kane tried to pick out Son, who should have made it 2-0 soon after only to fizz wide.
Son made no such mistake at the next time of asking, finding the back of the net after a delicious throughball from Kane, the striker’s fierce left-footed shot taking a telling deflection off Zouma on its way in.
Benrahma volleyed West Ham back into it in the 35th minute after Craig Dawson headed on Aaron Cresswell’s corner from the left.
Fabianski did well to smother a Kane shot early in the second half, before Dejan Kulusevski whipped a strike too high as Tottenham kept pushing for a third, and it came when Kane and Son inevitably combined again.
Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris booted the ball long for Kane to flick on for Son, who ran beyond the West Ham defence and rammed gleefully past Fabianski.
What does it mean? Double act take centre stage
Tottenham had lost their last two Premier League tussles with West Ham, both at the London Stadium. At the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, this has been largely a one-sided rivalry, with Tottenham having now lost just two of their last 20 Premier League home games against Sunday’s visitors (W11 D7).
This was Spurs at close to their modern-day best, with the Kane-Son combination thriving and Conte’s men on the up. The head coach’s fist pump at full time spoke volumes. He knows this was a massive victory, while West Ham were a shadow of their usual selves, sapped surely by their dramatic midweek win over Sevilla. The Hammers’ Champions League hopes are perhaps over now, given the six-point gap to Arsenal.
Kane the assists king
Since the start of last season, Kane has posted a competition-high 19 assists in the Premier League after his feats in this game. He nudged one ahead of the next two most prolific providers: Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool and Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes.
Son’s double means he has had nine goal involvements in his last eight Premier League home games (eight goals, one assist). Kane, meanwhile, has now been involved in 50 goals in Premier League London derbies (39 goals, 11 assists), making him just the third player to reach this milestone after Thierry Henry (55) and Frank Lampard (50).
Spurs rise to Conte landmark moment
Tottenham boss Conte was taking charge of his 400th match in all competitions as a top-flight head coach, and this was his 253rd win (D81 L66). Son and Kane came good for him, while Zouma lent a helping hand.
Spurs have benefitted from six own goals in the Premier League this season, the first side since Swansea City in 2013-14 (eight) to benefit from as many in the same English top-flight campaign.
Key Opta Facts
– Kane has now assisted Son 20 times in the Premier League; only Lampard (24 to Didier Drogba) and David Silva (21 to Sergio Aguero) have assisted a single team-mate more often in the competition’s history.
– West Ham have lost more Premier League London derbies than any other side (109), 25 of which have come against Spurs, only suffering more such defeats against Chelsea (27) and Arsenal (33).
– Only in 2016-17 (14) and last season (17) has Son scored more Premier League goals in a single campaign than his 13 this season, while he has reached double figures for goals at home in the top-flight for the very first time.
– Son is the top home goalscorer in the Premier League this season (10).
– West Ham have now scored exactly 500 Premier League goals away from home, the tenth different side to reach this tally.
What’s next?
Tottenham will have home advantage when they tackle Newcastle United on Sunday, April 3. West Ham welcome lowly Everton to the London Stadium on the same day.
