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Michail Antonio delivers hammer blow to Spurs

Spurs succumb to their fourth league defeat by a London side this season

West Ham United handed Tottenham Hotspur their fourth defeat in an English Premier League London Derby this season as Michail Antonio scored a second-half goal to earn his side a 1-0 win yesterday.

Victory moved the Hammers up to fourth with 17 points while Spurs - who also lost to Crystal Palace, Chelsea and Arsenal - fell to sixth as Nuno Espirito Santo's side failed to test the home side's goal in the second half.

Both teams had plenty of chances in the first half, with West Ham dominating but failing to convert their opportunities while Spurs' best shots on goal were hit straight at goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.

Table Caption
WEST HAM UNITED TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
1 0
(Michail Antonio 72)  

Antonio was rewarded for his hard work when he scored from a corner in the 72nd minute. The striker was marked by Harry Kane, who failed to deal with Antonio as he stuck a foot out to divert Aaron Cresswell's pin-point cross into the net.

Tottenham manager Santo fielded a weaker starting XI in last Friday's 1-0 defeat by Vitesse in the Europa Conference League, resting his strongest line-up for this game.

However, that did not pay off as the visitors were often bereft of ideas against the hosts who defended deep, and could not convert the handful of chances that came their way.

When asked about the defeat, Nuno said: "Because West Ham defend in the box with a lot of men. Not much space.

"Should've moved the ball faster and go to wide areas. Always difficult when all men behind the ball, difficult to find spaces and gaps."

Both sides had their chances in the early stages as Pablo Fornals' acrobatic effort forced a fine save from Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

Lucas Moura was then inches away from putting Tottenham ahead when he turned to fire just wide and Son Heung-min's penetrating run ended with a shot straight at Fabianski.

Fornals then found Tomas Soucek with a cross but the Czech midfielder headed narrowly wide at the far post.

Tanguy Ndombele was next to miss with a header, which went too close to Fabianski and Kane was denied when the Pole pushed over his header on the stroke of half-time.

Lloris had to make a brilliant save when Fornals' effort took a deflection off Eric Dier. But West Ham finally made the breakthrough as Antonio evaded Kane and poked home Cresswell's corner, for his sixth league goal this season.

A delighted Hammers boss David Moyes said: "We are growing the characters at the moment. If you look at where these boys were two years ago, they have all blossomed."

FOXES WIN

In another match yesterday, Leicester City won 2-1 at Brentford to extend their unbeaten league run to four games.

The Bees made a lively start and Ivan Toney had a goal disallowed for offside by VAR (video assistant referee).

It was Leicester who took the lead when the ball dropped to Youri Tielemans 25 metres from goal and the Belgian midfielder unleashed a ferocious blast into the top corner in the 14th minute.

But the Bees equalised in the 60th minute, when Mathias Jorgensen rose above two markers to head past Kasper Schmeichel from a near-post corner.

James Maddison had the perfect response to his critics after a troubled spell as the Leicester midfielder netted in the 73rd minute, tapping into an empty from substitute Patson Daka's pass for his first goal since February. - AFP, REUTERS

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