What a sorry excuse for a derby. These are the days, aren’t they, that are meant to stir the emotions, haul you from your seat by the belt buckles and leave you drained and hoarse from the sheer passion of it all.
This did none of that. Wilson Odobert scored for Tottenham Hotspur, Jarrod Bowen equalised for West Ham and James Ward-Prowse nearly scored a stoppage-time free-kick that would have put him level with David Beckham. And then everyone went home.
At least Tottenham Hotspur had an excuse. Their minds are, understandably, already in the Arctic Circle and their crunch Europa League semi-final second leg against Bodo/Glimt with hopes of a first European final in six years.
Ange Postecoglou, who changed eight of his starting XI from the first leg, will now be more concerned about the prospect of being without James Maddison for the trip to Norway, who underwent scans on his knee after limping out of the opening game.
‘It doesn’t look great, but we’re just waiting for further information,’ said Postecoglou afterwards. ‘It’s fair to say it doesn’t look promising.’
Dominic Solanke, he said, looked more positive after also coming off against Bodo/Glimt and could feature while Heung-min Son has a chance of being fit.
Jarrod Bowen scored the equaliser as West Ham drew 1-1 with Tottenham on Sunday
Bowen coolly buried inside Guglielmo Vicario’s near post in a fractious atmosphere
Spurs, who made eight changes on Sunday, took the lead through Wilson Odobert
West Ham had no such distraction and still couldn’t beat Tottenham’s reserves. This is supposed to be the club’s fiercest rival but Graham Potter’s side produced yet another tepid display on home soil, bar the odd bright light from Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Bowen, who are now eight games without a win, their longest run since 2017.
The situation proved too much, too, for Lucas Paqueta who burst into tears after being booked in the 73rd minute for a cynical trip on Mikey Moore. Having just shown him a yellow card, referee Michael Oliver went over to check on him while Bowen also consoled his team-mate before Paqueta was substituted seven minutes later.
‘I think he’s just a player that’s trying his absolute best and wants the situation to be better and probably got a bit frustrated with the action,’ said West Ham boss Potter. ‘Then you see a human being, not perfect, but I love Lucas, he’s given everything and in difficult circumstances he’s in as well. He’s given everything and he’s absolutely fine now.’
It’s nearly a year since Paqueta was charged by the FA for alleged spot-fixing over four previous bookings and the Brazilian must now wait until the summer for a resolution that could see him banned for life.
The West Ham fans at least tried to drum up some early hunger for the fight as they rose in unison to cries of ‘stand up if you hate Tottenham’. It made little difference.
If the mood wasn’t already bad enough around the London Stadium at West Ham’s struggles under Potter – only the relegated sides have won fewer points since his first league game in charge – it soon worsened when Spurs took the lead from nowhere.
A hopeful long ball forward into the channel looked routine for Max Kilman to sweep up but the £40million summer signing made a hash of clearing his lines and booted the ball twice against Mathys Tel.
Tel squared the ball to an unmarked Odobert, who had time to take a touch, pick his spot and finish past Alphonse Areola to score his first Premier League goal for the club.
Mathys Tel stole the ball from Max Kilman and squared to Odobert to pick his spot
Vicario produced a stunning stop as he leapt across to his left to palm out Bowen’s header
Richarlison flicked a dangerous header across goal but West Ham cleared their lines
Of all Postecoglou’s shuffled pack, it was Tel who most staked a claim for a start on Thursday night. The French forward, on loan from Bayern Munich, looked sharp every time he got the ball and frequently bamboozled Jean-Clair Todibo. He split the West Ham defence with a fine pass to Richarlison after Paqueta gave the ball away but the Spurs striker had no one waiting when he pulled the ball back in front of goal.
‘He’s been important for us,’ said Postecoglou. ‘These last few weeks we’ve had Sonny out and we’ve needed him to fill that void and I think he’s done that well.’
For Potter, it was wing-back Wan-Bissaka who continues to be one of his few bright sparks. Whenever West Ham had the ball, he was their outlet and it was his threaded pass that found Bowen to slot between Guglielmo Vicario’s legs from a narrow angle for his 10th league goal of the campaign.
Bowen has long been the man to save the day for West Ham, who will entertain no bids for their skipper this summer, and he had the chance to win it, too, but saw his header clawed away from the line by Vicario.
Ward-Prowse was inches away from changing the mood in stoppage time but, in the end, it was Spurs who left dreaming of Europe and West Ham just ticking off another day until the season ends.
Lucas Paqueta appeared to break into tears after being booked during the second half
Ange Postecoglou’s focus remains on Spurs’ Europa League semi-final second leg in Norway
