On Sunday, Tottenham looked to be cruising to a Premier League victory against West Ham in a London derby. Jose Mourinho’s team were three goals up within the first 16 minutes, as attacking double act Harry Kane and Heung Min-Son ran riot.
Kane picked up a brace and an assist, while Son scored and also picked up an assist. It looked like it could be an absolute hammering for the Hammers. However, Spurs took their foot of the pedal and slowly David Moyes’ team got back into the game.
It took the Irons until the 82nd minute to score their first goal that looked to be a consolation by Fabian Balbuena. However, another goal followed with five minutes remaining on the clock, as Davinson Sanchez put the ball past his own goalkeeper.
The game was poised for a big finale and boy did it get it. Deep into stoppage-time, Tottenham believed that had cleared a corner kick, only for Argentinian attacking midfielder Manuel Lanzini to rifle home a superb long-range drive.
It was the sort of thing we have grown to expect from this season’s highly unpredictable Premier League campaign.
However, it did not make it any less galling for Mourinho and Tottenham fans. The Tottenham defence collapsed like a pack of cards. Technically, the forward players in Kane and Son had done their job in the first 16 minutes.
It was hard to see West Ham coming back from that sort of deficit. They did and Spurs backline had no answer for the questions that the Irons asked of them. A win would have put Tottenham just two points behind league leaders Everton.
Instead, everybody connected with the north London club will be left to rue the poor defensive display. For Mourinho, a head coach who usually prides himself on his team’s strength in defence the closing stages of the game will have been tough to watch.
It seems that this season could be a very open one in the Premier League. If Spurs are going to take their opportunity to be successful then they will need a massive defensive improvement.