Tottenham suffered setback in their top four aspiration after West Ham United became the first team to beat them at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday by 1-0.

There was only one goal in the game, scored by Michail Antonio in the 67th minute, but both sides created plenty of chances throughout the game, although Tottenham’s were not as clear-cut as the visitors’, who could have won by a bigger margin were it not for some good saves in the second half from Hugo Lloris when the game was getting stretched.

At the other end, Lukasz Fabianski kept out first-half efforts from Heung-Min Son and Christian Eriksen, while we almost snatched a point right at the end, only for substitute Vincent Janssen’s far post effort to be cleared off the line by Fabian Balbuena.

Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena were colossal at the back for West Ham, repelling everything that came their way, while Felipe Anderson and Antonio’s speed out wide kept Tottenham honest.

Antonio’s strike was one of real quality too, as he took the ball down on his chest before lashing high into the net, to give his team three points that the 3,000 travelling fans would celebrate wildly.

As it has been in four of the hosts’ five games at the new stadium this season, it was goalless at half-time and it needed a good block from Alderweireld to keep it that way two minutes after the restart, as a shot from Tottemham’s former full-back Fredericks cannoned off him and over the bar. Marko Arnautovic then drove straight at Lloris as the visitors opened the half brightly.

The game really started to open up with both sides having good attacking opportunities without making the best of them, the final pass on so many occasions not finding its intended target. But when Arnautovic picked up the ball out wide on the right, he certainly did find his target with an excellent pass in to Antonio in the area, the Hammers’ forward controlling the ball on his chest before volleying past Lloris from eight yards mid-way through the second half.

The Hammers went close to extending their lead late on, with Antonio denied a second by Lloris before Issa Diop had his low shot tipped past the post.

Spurs substitute Vincent Janssen almost levelled deep into stoppage time but Fabian Balbuena cleared his header off the line.

After the defeat, Tottenham Hotspur remain in third position with 70 points, three points above fourth-placed Chelsea.

Photo Credit: premierleague.com