EPL 2017/18: West Ham United 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur, 5 talking points

Tottenam Hotspur celebrate scoring against West Ham United
Tottenham Hotspur celebrate scoring against West Ham United

West Ham United hosted Tottenham Hotspur in the lunchtime kickoff to start game week six and it turned out to be a rather frustrating afternoon for the Hammers. After a fairly good start to the game where Slaven Bilic's side kept Spurs quite, they were two goals behind in the span of four minutes as Harry Kane scored twice from a close range.

Though West Ham went into halftime with a two-goal deficit to overcome, they had given a good account of themselves. Spurs, on the other hand, could have had more if it wasn't for the post. Harry Kane was unlucky not to score a first-half hat-trick as the Hammers back three struggle to contain him.

The plan for the second half was clear as West Ham introduced Andy Carroll. However, the away side were in no mood to take the foot off the gas as Christian Eriksen calmy slotted a deflected cross by Serge Aurier to triple the North London side's lead.

West Ham were given a lifeline by Javier Hernandez's header and Spurs' edginess was compounded when Serge Aurier was sent off for two yellow cards.

The hosts peppered the box with crosses, one of which found Cheikhou Kouyate's head who buried it. With three minutes or so left in normal time, West Ham tried but failed to find the elusive equaliser. Here are the talking points from the game.

#5 Marko Arnautovic, an enigma unsolved

Marko Arnautovic
Marko Arnautovic

When Marko Arnautovic played under Mark Hughes, there was hope that Sparky could get the best out of him, something that Sir Alex Ferguson managed with Hughes more than two decades ago.

He was infuriating at times, but he still had moments of brilliance that could wow the fans. A record buy at West Ham, a lot more was expected and it's safe to say that he has failed to replicate any of the good stuff that he pulled off at Stoke.

Arnautovic's first touch was woeful at times and he was rightly taken off in the 66th minute for Andre Ayew. However, the latter didn't do anything worthy of note either.

#4 Serge Aurier's bittersweet full debut

Serge Aurier walks back after being sent off
Serge Aurier walks back after being sent off

Serge Aurier had a good outing against Borussia Dortmund and Swansea City and unsurprisingly, Mauricio Pochettino handed him his full debut against West Ham. Up against Marko Arnautovic and Aaron Cresswell, the Ivorian put in a solid display in the first half and was rarely troubled.

With pace to burn, he got forward a few times as well. A more than decent debut turned into a nightmare for the former PSG fullback as he was shown two yellow cards in the span of minutes.

While the first was questionable, the second was a bookable offence as he lunged to win the ball back from Andy Carroll. While he should be lauded for trying to win the ball back, Aurier will learn that you don't do that when you're already on a yellow!

#3 West Ham showed fighting spirit, but is it enough?

West Ham had a good start but couldn't keep up
West Ham had a good start

The Hammers perhaps edged it in the first half as they pressed well and denied Spurs too many openings. However, Harry Kane was always a threat and despite a promising show, Bilic's side were behind and staring down the barrel when the half-time whistle arrived.

In the second half, Bilic tried to force the issue and test the Tottenham backline by asking his fullbacks to bomb forward more and deliver crosses, but rarely did the ploy work as Spurs were able to clear their lines.

It was only after West Ham had the numerical advantage that their crosses looked more threatening as it allowed Kouyate to make more runs into the penalty area. The creativity down the middle is an issue when they don't have Manuel Lanzini.

While the team should be lauded for the spirit they showed, Bilic still has a lot of issues to resolve.

#2 Harry Kane's form

Hurri-Kane
Hurri-Kane

You could see it coming. Kane, after yet another dry spell in August, could have had as many as four against West Ham. With West Ham's back three, Kane often found space and he was ably supported by Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli.

Kane now has four goals in six games -- despite not scoring in August -- and if Spurs can keep their head at the back, they're looking at a good, solid run and make up the points they've lost.

If only he could score at Wembley in the Premier League! And if only he didn't keep hitting the woodwork.

#1 Soft sending off?

Michael Oliver
Michael Oliver

Although it was a pretty good game for the neutrals, we shouldn't forget that the sending off of Serge Aurier played a big role in the making the final score more respectable.

While you can't really argue about Aurier's second yellow, there wasn't much he did wrong for the first yellow he picked up.

At times, referees tend to delay showing the second yellow if they do realise the first one was soft in hindsight, but the extent of the foul on Carroll the second time left Michael Oliver with no choice.

Quick Links

Edited by Amit Mishra