West Ham vs. Tottenham: Winners and Losers from Premier League London Derby
West Ham United's supporters' final memory of playing Tottenham Hotspur at Upton Park will be a happy one after their side beat the north Londoners 1-0 on Wednesday.
The victory strengthens West Ham's hopes of beginning life in the Olympic Stadium with European football too. After the midweek Premier League results, they sit just one point off the Champions League places.
Michail Antonio headed West Ham into a seventh-minute lead. Holding off a feeble challenge from Nacer Chadli, the wide-man powerfully turned Dimitri Payet's corner kick past the helpless Hugo Lloris.
The Hammers looked most likely to score after that. Though they would not add to their lead, they rarely looked like conceding either.
Tottenham's struggle to match their determined London cross-city rivals not only cost them a never-to-be-repeated opportunity for bragging rights but wasted their chance of going top of the league and extending their advantage over second-place Arsenal to six points ahead of Saturday's north London derby.
Read on for the winners and losers from this Premier League clash.
Winner: Michail Antonio
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"To see him connected with Homer Simpson, they have nothing in common—there is no connection between the two," said West Ham boss Slaven Bilic pre-match as he recalled Antonio's homage to the cartoon character after celebrating his winner against Sunderland, per Sky Sports' Mark Ashenden.
"Homer is lazy," Bilic said. "Michail is a workaholic. But I enjoyed his celebration."
Bilic did not get to enjoy another The Simpsons-inspired routine but will have been plenty pleased once more by Antonio's work rate—chiefly in his giving West Ham their early and ultimately winning advantage.
All six of Antonio's goals for the club have now come in winning efforts. He is proving to be a difference-maker for the east Londoners and will hope to make it three decisive strikes in a row when they head to Everton on Saturday.
While this goal will not be remembered for its celebration, it will go down in club folklore all the same. It's the one that ensured Tottenham did not leave their final visit to Upton Park gloating.
Loser: Nacer Chadli
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Antonio's beating Chadli to the punch for the Hammers' winner was the result of the Belgian's poor pass back to Ben Davies while conceding a corner kick. Things did not get much better for the Tottenham attacking midfielder.
Chadli's sloppy control typified his side's nervy, often feeble attempts to get forward in the first half. Any hints of them gaining ground quickly went to waste via a poor touch or misjudged attempt to be over-elaborate.
Some good runs into the box went unrewarded. But Chadli left on 61 minutes having never really looked close to repeating his scoring impact in Spurs' win over Swansea City on Sunday. Ultimately, he contributed to their downfall.
Winner: Dimitri Payet
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Absent from West Ham's 4-1 defeat to Tottenham in November, Payet's contribution to this win suggests the scoreline at least might have been different had he played then.
His delivery for Antonio's goal was inch-perfect, and he continued to threaten from subsequent set plays. Just as troubling for Tottenham was the Frenchman's marauding runs. The ease with which he found space at times was as if they had never seen him play before.
Payet's post-interval impact was minimal as he received less of the ball and tired late on (a possible chance to seal the win was stolen away by the alert Heung-Min Son). Yet he had done his job, once again reiterating his vital importance to the West Ham cause in the process.
Loser: Mauricio Pochettino
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For all the praise rightfully handed to Mauricio Pochettino this season, this loss was a reminder that the Tottenham boss is not perfect.
His decision to play the comparatively less experienced and, frankly, softer full-back duo of Ben Davies and Kieran Trippier instead of Danny Rose and Kyle Walker was one example of an approach bordering on hubris.
His continuing a rotation strategy that does not always have to be applied overlooked the importance of the occasion and the determination of the opponents. Rose and Walker will have spent times on their heels too, but the older pair would have been less likely to freeze as their younger team-mates did.
The underestimating of West Ham extended elsewhere too.
If he was fit enough to come on anyway, Dele Alli's better (albeit marginally) second-half impact suggests Spurs would have been better off starting him in midfield. One eye may have been on keeping him fresh for Arsenal on Saturday, but the presence of the team's most aggressive, well-rounded player (without the injured Mousa Dembele for the latter, anyway) would have almost certainly given West Ham more to think about.
His players did not perform like they can. Nonetheless, the birthday boy Pochettino needs to think carefully about how he sets them up for Tottenham's next derby.
Winner: Slaven Bilic
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Even with a more pragmatic approach from Tottenham selection-wise, they were always going to be in for a tough night.
Bilic's tactical shift to pack the midfield (influenced by his own lack of defensive options) and submerge Spurs in claret and blue was a smart call.
It quickly unsettled the visitors and negated their attempts to impose themselves like in November's meeting. Closing down too frantically meant that Spurs left space behind, and West Ham duly exposed it.
From there, everyone from Payet to Mark Noble and Emmanuel Emenike to Manuel Lanzini revelled in their opponents' uncharacteristic uncertainty. They should have been up by two or three at half-time.
It is now, as pointed out by the Hammers' social media team, the club's "best points haul after 28 Premier League games." They are bowing out from Upton Park in style with a good portion of the season still to be played.
As the man overseeing it all, Bilic can do almost no wrong right now. Whatever happens between now and May, this victory will ensure he has cachet for some time yet.
