Tottenham survived a late West Ham onslaught to emerge with a 3-2 win from a ding-dong derby.
Harry Kane scored twice in four first-half minutes and Spurs appeared to be cruising when Christian Eriksen added a third.
But Javier Hernandez pulled one back before Serge Aurier marked his full league debut with a needless red card.
Cheikhou Kouyate’s powering 87th-minute header then set up a thrilling finish at the London Stadium but Tottenham dug deep for all three points.
What they said
?️ Mauricio: “Sometimes it is good to win in that way. Fighting and suffering all together is an emotion that makes us all stronger.” #COYS pic.twitter.com/gldGSIoo5B
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 23, 2017
West Ham boss Slaven Bilic: “We are disappointed we lost the game. Until that first goal we were proper like last year when we beat them, it was a really good performance. Then we lose one ball, with enough players behind, and it was a brilliant finish. But it was a good fight from our side.”
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino: “It was a very tough game and overall we deserved the win. If we analyse the game we were better. We played well, competing and fighting against a difficult team, in a derby. That game means more than three points.”
Tweet of the match
Maybe we should have moved to the Olympic Stadium??
— Darren Anderton (@DarrenAnderton) September 23, 2017
Star man – Harry Kane
⚽️ ⚽️ #OneOfOurOwn pic.twitter.com/4SSssBkwvW
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 23, 2017
Kane now has seven goals in six Premier League matches against West Ham and the striker proved the difference again here. He made a difficult header look easy for his first and was in the right place at the right time to finish off Dele Alli’s shot moments later.
View from the bench
Data point
33 – Christian Eriksen has now surpassed Nicklas Bendtner as the outright top scoring Dane in @premierleague history. Updated. https://t.co/6qllMIKLjp
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 23, 2017
Christian Eriksen has overtaken Nicklas Bendtner to become the highest scoring Dane in Premier League history with 33 goals.
Player ratings
Tottenham: Hugo Lloris 6, Serge Aurier 4, Toby Alderweireld 7, Davinson Sanchez 6, Jan Vertonghen 7, Ben Davies 5, Eric Dier 5, Moussa Sissoko 6, Christian Eriksen 8, Dele Alli 7, Harry Kane 8. Substitutes: Kieran Trippier (for Sissoko, 78) 5, Fernando Llorente (for Kane, 89) 5, Harry Winks (for Eriksen, 73) 6.
Who’s up next?
APOEL v Tottenham (Champions League, Sept 26)
West Ham v Swansea (Premier League, Sept 30)
