Premier League - Defoe returns to haunt West Ham

Eurosport - Sun, 23 Aug 19:37:00 2009

Goals by Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon gave Tottenham a 2-1 win over West Ham in a keenly-contested Premier League match at Upton Park.

FOOTBALL 2009-2010 Premier League Tottenham Hotspurs' Jermain Defoe scores his sides first goal of the game as West Ham United's Carlton Cole (left) stands dejected after giving the ball away - 0

Spurs came from behind for victory after Carlton Cole had given the hosts the lead with a spectacular strike just after the break as both Defoe and manager Harry Redknapp enjoyed winning returns to their former club.

The result saw Spurs topple bitter rivals Arsenal off the top of the league table as Redknapp's side made it three wins from three so far this season - their best start to a new campaign since 1960-61, the last time Spurs won the title.

On-form Defoe received a great deal of hostility from the Upton Park crowd, and neither he nor strike partner Robbie Keane could initially make much of an impact on the game.

Ledley King - back in the side after he was rested for the midweek win over Hull City - went closest to opening the scoring, the Spurs skipper directing a header on to the cross bar on the half-hour mark.

Hammers midfielder Scott Parker had earlier brought a save out of Carlo Cudicini with a swerving shot from distance - the first half-chance of the game - before Cole, watched by England coach Fabio Capello, fluffed his lines when put in on goal by a clever Jonathan Spector pass.

Cole is a willing runner but on occasion his finishing lets him down and Capello cannot have been impressed by that effort, nor by a second chance the England striker passed up just before the break.

This time he failed to attack the six-yard box after Junior Stanislas had done brilliantly to get to the byline and deliver a teasing cross that was crying out to be tapped over the line.

Cole was to make his mark though, and how he did - bringing down a long punt downfield from Cudicini on 49 minutes before turning and smashing past Robert Green from 25 yards out.

The finish was as out of keeping with his first-half performance as the aberration which followed soon after was with the goal: Cole somehow managed to turn from hero to villain in the space of five minutes as he gifted Spurs an equaliser with a through pass straight to Defoe, who finished like a man on top form to notch his 50th goal in a Spurs shirt on his 150th Premier League appearance.

That the chance was gobbled up by the former West Ham player, who was roundly booed before kick-off and near the end as he clashed with Julien Faubert before being substituted, made Cole's error all the more unforgivable; he hung his head in disbelief.

Back on level terms, Spurs began to attack with more intent as Lennon came into the game more, the tricky winger giving full-back Spector a real headache with his direct running as the second half wore on.

And Lennon it was who gave Spurs the lead on 79 minutes, Vedran Corluka slipping the ball through for the England international to run on to, cut inside and unleash a low drive that Green could not keep out.

The strike proved to be the winner, but West Ham had chances of their own to get back into the game, Luis Jiminez - impressive in fits and starts on his home debut - seeing a header well saved by Cudicini and Cole showing what he is occasionally capable of with a snap shot from the edge of the area.

It was not enough, and Spurs held on to maintain their 100 per cent start to the new season and claim bragging rights over the Hammers until the return match at the end of the year.

Mike Hytner / Eurosport

Comment 28 - 47 of 47

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  1. A solid performance against a good West Ham side. Zola­ and Clarke will get it right for the Hammers.

    Spurs­ are more resilient under Harry and his coaching staff­ and seem to have that extra fitness in the last 10-15­ mins which makes a huge difference.

    I thought it was a­ good game, especially the second half when it could­ have gone either way, Defoe is on fire right now and I­ like the pairing of Palacios and Huddlestone in the­ middle, adds much needed steel which we haven't had­ for a while. Keano's getting back to form as well,­ looking good for a top 6 finish, lets see what happens­ over the Xmas period before we start thinking above­ ourselves, there's a way to go yet but very pleased­ so far.

    From Nigel, on Mon 24 Aug 12:53PM

  2. Nice win and we played bad most of the game, WH I­ thought shoulda have punished us but Carlton Cole­ another hyped up English striker had like 6 shots one­ on target, I think we should have seen Crouch on at­ about 60mins and the game wouldve been over before­ Lennons strike all in all im happy with the points but­ the display was a bit rugged God why am I complaining­ we woulda been turned over this time last year, feck it­ great win Spurs lets see more of it :)

    COYS

    From Martin S, on Mon 24 Aug 10:35AM

  3. Good match and hate of to WH for giving Spurs a real­ run. Zola have done well with the current batch of­ players and if they can keep thier ego in tack this­ team might be able to pull out some suprises.
    As for­ Spurs they still need to get a defender (CD) as it­ shown this is them main weekness in the current squard.­ The real test will be when they take on MU and Arsenal­ then only we will able to tell if Spurs will be amoung­ the top 4 this season.

    From Krishnan, on Mon 24 Aug 6:45AM
  4. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    British jobs for British people vote BNP

    From sirstevejones, on Mon 24 Aug 6:45AM

  5. yes another good win for tottenham especially as they­ didnt play to well but thats the point winnin games­ instead of drawing or losing utd are famous for it so­ long may it continue but i am waiting for the bubble to­ burst lol

    From james t, on Mon 24 Aug 5:28AM

  6. For a spurs fan since 1981.................i can start­ to smile & i really hope i can continue to smile­ for the rest of the season!! Good job to the boys &­ Harry..............RK

    From Raam, on Mon 24 Aug 5:04AM
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    DISAPAINTED WIT DAT WAN DANNEY,YE MAST BAY TEERED­ TANNIT!NAY SA SHARP AS NARMEL!

    From Iggy, on Mon 24 Aug 3:04AM

  8. Pretty good performance by West Ham in fairness,could­ have gone either way and a draw would probably have­ been fair,a bit of magic cancelled out by a moment of­ madness from mister Cole.Very happy with the 3 points­ though,we didn't play particularly well,but we­ still won,here's hoping this run continues.COYS.

    From Iggy, on Mon 24 Aug 12:13AM

  9. i think spurs won today without the skill and passion­ as the hull and liverpool games,west ham away is always­ a tough game on paper,it just shows the progress­ we've made under harry,saying that, lets not get­ too far ahead of ourselves,a sign of a good team is­ consticancy,i'll be back in 4 months and hope­ we're still as good

    From spurs.hughes, on Sun 23 Aug 11:48PM

  10. martin your a mug tottenham are the team to beat top­ off table great players all over the pitch and on the­ bench your obviouley a glory hunting @#$% who s team­ are nt playing aswell as us your a muppet c o y s

    From ahurcombe, on Sun 23 Aug 11:45PM

  11. C'mon the Spurs! Nice one Harry and the boys!! Keep­ up the good work!

    From ptothej, on Sun 23 Aug 10:42PM

  12. Arry is the Man with the Plan!

    From mirandola, on Sun 23 Aug 10:09PM

  13. Good game Hammers Zola is makin this 2 bit club hard to­ beat! Hopefully they'll not get relegated this­ season anyway!

    From Brendan, on Sun 23 Aug 9:58PM

  14. fair play old harry done a good job could be an­ interesting season

    From lisaswannack, on Sun 23 Aug 9:43PM

  15. cole needs to many chances to score a goal we need­ another goalscorer a defoe would have put at least one­ of them away sad to say.

    From Cavey, on Sun 23 Aug 9:06PM

  16. martin you @#$% spurs a a bad team where do you get of­ are you that blind you cant see that you have not one­ player in your side that would be worthy of wearing a­ spurs shirt no im not a tottenham fan but it is clear­ to see they are in a different class to uopou lot you­ were lucky not to be 4-1 down at half time so get real­ and realize your team aint worth jack @#$%

    From mick, on Sun 23 Aug 8:54PM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    c u * t s

    From mick.morris, on Sun 23 Aug 8:21PM

  18. COYS from the USA. Now I can stop taking &^%( from­ the bandwagon supporters of Man,Arse,Liver over here.

    From rick, on Sun 23 Aug 7:55PM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    i think spurs are still a very poor team harry is­ holding the team up hes magic will soon go and then­ they and there supporters will turn back to @#$% come­ on you irons.

    From MARTIN, on Sun 23 Aug 7:53PM

  20. carton cole should be a defensive mid he can control­ and hold the ball EXTREMELY well while his long shots­ are pretty good but finishing isnt that top class but­ his passing...sublime... did you see his pass to defoe­ im sure iniesta would have been in AWE...defense­ splitting ;)

    From chicken salad, on Sun 23 Aug 6:42PM
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