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Tottenham 2-2 West Ham: Kane penalty at death completes comeback

NBC Sports

Another game, another late goal to earn points. Tottenham earned its 16th point from a losing position, coming back from 2-0 down with a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes to draw with West Ham.

Danny Rose scored a funky but impressive goal in the 81st minute, and with Spurs pouring on the pressure, that man Harry Kane earned and converted a penalty with 10 seconds remaining in added time.

Tottenham started by far the better team in the opening 10 minutes, with a couple of shots on goal. The first true chance came inside the opening 10 minutes when Naleb Bentaleb forced a big save from Adrian with a shot from distance. In the 11th minute they had another opportunity when Danny Rose chipped a long one and sprung in-form striker Harry Kane past the central defender partnership. However the bounce wasn’t kind to the sprinting Kane, and Winston Reid’s challenge gave him enough to think about that the young striker put his awkward effort just wide off the post.

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West Ham struggled to maintain any kind of significant possession, but slowly built themselves into dangerous positions by the 20 minute mark. That was the spark they needed, and the Hammers would go in front at White Hart lane on 22 minutes, punishing Spurs for not capitalizing on their early start.

The goal saw some lovely ball movement, as Aaron Cresswell made a pointed little overlap run along the left-hand edge of the box, and he dinked a cross perfectly into the box. It found the head of Cheikhou Kouyate, who had positioned himself perfectly in between the Spurs central defender partnership, and his powerful header found the top corner.

The game opened up. Danny Rose nearly got to the end of a chipped ball by Kane over the top of defense, Hugo Lloris was forced to come off his line to awkwardly snuff out an Enner Valencia chance, and Ryan Mason scuffed just wide all prior to the half-hour mark.

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With the first 45 minutes gone, the visitors continued to look bright in the second half. Diafra Sakho came close to doubling West Ham’s lead but his shot from a tight angle was clipped into the side-netting by Lloris. But Sakho would do the job just moments later. He delivered a cross from the right flank that just missed Enner Valencia thanks to good defending by Danny Rose, but the chance wasn’t over. Mark Noble got to the ball and crossed it back to the box, and while it evaded Valencia’s head, the cross fell to Sakho who creeped to the far post, and he poked home the 2-0 lead.

Noble was lucky to escape a sending off a minute later, as he somehow evaded a second booking for a clearly late tackle on Bentaleb. Lloris was then required again to make a spectacular save on a point-blank finish from Valencia to keep out a third West Ham goal.

Spurs made changes with the introductions of Christian Eriksen and Roberto Soldado, and the former added a seriously impactful presence. Spurs built themselves into the ascendency with 15 minutes to go, but had a long way back. Rose was the man to pull a goal back with nine minutes left when a rebound fell to him outside the top of the box, and he creatively drove the ball into the ground, causing it to leap off the pitch and essentially chip West Ham goalkeeper Adrian.

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It made for a gripping final few moments, and Spurs poured on the pressure. Soldado forced an athletic diving save from Adrian, and Jan Vertonghen headed over on a corner. Spurs pummeled the West Ham box, and it eventually paid off. Alex Song crawled up Kane’s back in the box, and referee Jon Moss gave the spot kick. Adrian saved Kane’s first attempt, but he was there to power home the rebound and set White Hart Lane alight.

The result was harsh on West Ham, who were impressive on the road, but they could only get a single point to reach the magical 40-point mark. Spurs stay 6th but draw within one of Southampton with the draw.

LINEUPS

Tottenham: Lloris, Walker, Dier, Vertonghen, Rose; Bentaleb, Mason (Chadli 80′); Lamela, Dembele (Eriksen 46′), Townsend (Soldado 60′); Kane.

Goals: Rose 81′

West Ham: Adrian, Jenkinson, Tomkins, Reid, Cresswell, Song, Noble (Cole 68′, Collins 87′), Kouyate, Downing, Sakho, Valencia (Jarvis 75′).

Goals: Kouyate 22′, Sakho 62′