Erik Lamela scored the only goal of the game as Tottenham Hotspur narrowly got the better of West Ham United in a hard-fought derby at the London Stadium this afternoon.
The Argentine's glancing header from Moussa Sissoko's 44th-minute cross - his fifth goal in his last seven appearances - was enough for Tottenham's fourth straight league win.
West Ham were arguably unfortunate not to grab a point as Hugo Lloris made several fine second-half saves, including a crucial block from Marko Arnautovic in stoppage time.
Another blow for the Hammers was losing big-money signing Andriy Yarmolenko to injury, with the Ukranian winger leaving on a stretcher in the first half after rolling his ankle.
Relive how Spurs pipped their rivals 1-0 with Sports Mole's minute-by-minute updates below.
A London derby between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur would usually be Box Office enough to guarantee itself a TV slot over the course of a Premier League weekend. Not this weekend, but fear not as Sports Mole will have every kick covered with our minute-by-minute updates.
WEST HAM: Fabianski; Zabaleta, Diop, Balbuena, Cresswell; Rice Snodgrass, Noble; Anderson, Yarmolenko, Arnautovic
Subs: Adrian, Ogbonna, Fredericks, Masuaku, Diangana, Antonio, Chicharito
Subs: Adrian, Ogbonna, Fredericks, Masuaku, Diangana, Antonio, Chicharito
SPURS: Lloris; Trippier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Davies; Dier, Winks, Sissoko; Lamela, Lucas, Kane
Subs: Gazzaniga, Aurier, Walker-Peters, Dembele, Eriksen, Son, Llorente
Subs: Gazzaniga, Aurier, Walker-Peters, Dembele, Eriksen, Son, Llorente
The big news for the Hammers is that Marko Arnautovic is passed fit to start up front. Manuel Pellegrini has admitted that the Austrian's troublesome knee injury will need managing over the course of the season but he was never likely to sit out of arguably the club's biggest game of the campaign.
Pellegrini has made a couple of changes to the team which lost 1-0 at Brighton & Hove Albion before the international break. Artur Masuaku has been struggling with an ankle problem so Aaron Cresswell returns, while Robert Snodgrass is back in favour with Pedro Obiang missing from midfield.
The midfield trio of Obiang, Mark Noble and Declan Rice has given West Ham a much better balance in the absence of the injured Jack Wilshere. Snodgrass is a more attacking player, so it will be interesting to see how that affects the freedom of wingers Andriy Yarmolenko and Felipe Anderson.
After missing five games with a virus, Javier Hernandez is healthy enough to take his place on a United bench with includes youth team graduate Grady Diangana, and a summer signing who learned his trade at today's opposition - Ryan Fredericks, who made four Europe League appearances for Spurs.
Mauricio Pochettino has Christian Eriksena and Mousa Dembele back from a long injury list, but names both among his substitutes as he shows West Ham respect by matching up their three in midfield. Moussa Sissoko keeps his place alongside two of England's heroes of Betis - Harry Winks and Eric Dier.
Jan Vertonghen and Danny Rose are still in the Spurs treatment room so Davinson Sanchez and Ben Davies get the opportunity to become regulars again, having lost their places despite strong 2017-18 campaigns. Dele Alli is also missing for Spurs with the hamstring strain which kept him off England duty.
After four goals and a couple of assists in his last six outings, Erik Lamela gets his first start of the season ahead of Son Heung-min. Lucas Moura continues his record of starting every league game this term, with the only other Spurs player to do so - the ever-present Harry Kane of course - leading the line.
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Having Eriksen and Son on the bench gives Pochettino the kind of firepower that he seldom has in reserve. An interesting absentee from the squad is young defender Juan Foyth, who may have been hoping for a chance with Vertonghen injured but looks no closer to breaking through to the first team picture. Victor Wanyama is also missing after sustaining a knock on international duty with Kenya.
This is the first Saturday 3pm kickoff between these two teams since Pochettino's maiden match in charge of Spurs, which was settled by a 93rd-minute goal from every neutral's new favourite footballer Eric Dier, one of today's two survivors from that lineup alongside goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris.
That was the last time that West Ham failed to score against Tottenham, eight matches ago. The Hammers have scored at least twice in eight of the previous 13 encounters, although have only won half of those games which have totalled 28 goals at a healthy average of 3.5 goals per fixture.
The biggest contributor to that tally has unsurprisingly been Harry Kane, who has seven goals in his last seven appearances against West Ham, including three braces and three goals in the 89th minute or later. The Irons are Kane's third favourite opponents after Leicester City and Stoke City.
RESULT! Dramatic closing scenes at Stamford Bridge as Ross Barkley scores a 95th-minute equaliser to rescue Chelsea a 2-2 draw against Manchester United. Mourinho was having to be restrained by stewards in the aftermath as he protested the celebrations of the Chelsea staff!
Today's two managers at the London Stadium are much more tranquil than Mourinho. They are familiar opponents from their time in both England and Spain - Pellegrini has won nine of the 14 league encounters, but Pochettino has won the last two - when Spurs did the double over Manchester City in 2015-16.
Victory this afternoon would give Spurs five successive top-flight London derby wins for the first time since January 1961. They have beaten Fulham, Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Arsenal on that run since drawing 1-1 with the Hammers at Wembley in early 2018.
In contrast, West Ham are winless in seven top-flight London derbies since beating Chelsea last December. Their Premier League record against their capital rivals since moving into to the London Stadium reads three wins, three draws and three defeats.
We all know the Hammers love to beat Spurs though; a statement which is equally true with the record books as it is West Ham's supporters. Their 14 Premier League wins over Tottenham is their joint-highest tally against a specific opponent.
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Pellegrini's men were starting to find some form prior to the international break. The defeat at Brighton ended their four-match unbeaten run in all competitions, as they recovered from four losses on the bounce to start the Chilean's reign.
West Ham are looking to secure successive Premier League home wins for the first time since December 2016, and the scalp of Spurs to add to that of Manchester United would be a fine way of ending that wait. Last time they managed two home league wins in a row, their victims were Hull and Burnley.
The Hammers have scored 11 goals in their past two games on their own soil, as many as they had managed in the previous 10 fixtures at the London Stadium. Talismanic forward Arnautovic in particular enjoys home comfort, finding the net three times on his last four outings for West Ham.
There has been plenty of negativity surrounding Tottenham's start to the season, perhaps clouded by their stadium delay and a silent summer in the transfer market, but they have actually made a better start than last term and have won eight of their past 10 league games, including each of the last three.
While every fixture for Spurs has effectively been an away fixture since leaving White Hart Lane in 2017, they have fared very well away from Wembley in recent times, recording eight victories from their last 11 league games on the road, including triumphs at Chelsea and Manchester United.
Spurs have failed to score just once in 18 away league matches - a 1-0 reverse to already-relegated West Bromwich Albion in May courtesy of 90th-minute strike from former midfielder Jake Livermore. They have notched twice or more in four of their five Premier League away matches so far this season.
Around 10 minutes until the first half gets underway. Tottenham have conceded just two first-half goals this season; only Liverpool, with one, have let in fewer. On the other hand, they have conceded five goals after the 85th minute in all competitions, which has rebirthed questions about Tottenham's character, that the club thought they had put to bed under Pochettino.
An equally plausible explanation for Tottenham fading late on in games is World Cup fatigue. Six of today's starting lineup made it to the semi-finals in Russia and only reported back a week before the Premier League kickoff. That does not include Rose, Alli and Vertonghen whose injuries could be attributed to that lack of pre-season.
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Tottenham are looking to win consecutive league matches at West Ham for the first time since August 2009 when former Upton Park hero turned villain Jermain Defoe scored for the Lilywhites in a 2-0 victory. Hammers skipper Mark Noble was a spritely 22-year-old in the home midfield that day.
There have been so many great Premier League moments in games between these sides. That last-minute Gareth Bale thunderbolt; the 4-3 thriller of 2007 when Paul Stalteiri was the unlikely hero (sorry West Ham fans – I know you've had your moments too)! What about winning 3-0 at the Lane when Ravel Morrison danced through from the halfway line? This is a rivalry that rarely disappoints and hopefully we are in for another cracking installment today.
PREDICTION: Although they have not been leaking goals, Tottenham's defence looks more vulnerable this season than it did last and the absence of Vertonghen will only make them more open. West Ham have the attacking threat to captialise on this but Kane should be a big enough equalizer - 1-1.
KICKOFF: Spurs get the action underway, and it is fair to say that the London Stadium is rocking for this one...
SHOT! Kane was not on the scoresheet for England in midweek but he did provide a brilliant assist for Marcus Rashford. The Spurs striker shows his passing ability again here by releasing Lamela skilfully on the turn. The Argentine is all alone and takes the ball too wide, shooting harmlessly into the side-netting.
SHOT! The Hammers have an early sighter of their own at the other end, with Arnautovic working Lloris from the edge of the box. Already the Austrian's movement is dragging Davinson Sanchez around, and he creates half a yard against the Colombian to unleash a shot which Lloris gathers low into his body.
Noble wins a free kick for a trip by Lucas, and quickly knocks a ball over the top for the run of Arnautovic. Sanchez bravely lets the ball run through to Lloris who collects cleanly. The Spurs skipper has made a couple of high-profile mistakes in recent matches but has started with assurance here.
Lamela takes the ball on the half turn and has Trippier, who unmarked to his right in a dangerous position but he can't squeeze the pass through. Rice, I think, with the crucial interception there.
CLOSE! Spurs work the ball forward nicely through Sissoko, Winks and Lucas, who pulls a cross back for the French midfielder, whose last Tottenham goal was against the Hammers nearly a year ago. He connects nicely with a side-footed shot and a deflection takes it narrowly over Lukasz Fabianski's bar.
Lamela is taking up some clever central positions and getting on the ball with more frequency than West Ham should be comfortable with. He dinks a reverse pass over the back line for Winks, who tried to square to Kane but miscued his cross, and was flagged for offside anyway.
Alderweireld times his slide tackle on Arnautovic perfectly, and had to as any mistake would have handed West Ham a penalty. The hosts do get a succession of corners but the delivery from Anderson is poor on each occasion and Spurs clear their lines.
Pablo Zabaleta has had to leave the field for treatment after being caught by a stray but accidental elbow by Lucas. The veteran Hammers defender actually played alongside Pochettino at Espanyol.
Noble is filling in as a makeshift right-back for now, an area which Spurs may want to exploit. Instead Winks tries to switch the play to Trippier, over the head of Cresswell, but the right-back had gone too early and is caught offside.
Eric Dier won some new fans on England duty by wiping out Sergio Ramos. His tackle here on Cresswell is much more innocuous, but is nevertheless mistimed and gives West Ham a decent free-kick opportunity.
The hosts are enjoying a good spell here, winning most of the 50-50s and attacking in numbers when they do go forward. Again though Anderson's corner is poor and Tottenham can get off the hook for now.
Spurs break with pace through Lucas and eventually Kane is teed up for a 30-yard shot which is deflected wide of Fabianski's goal. It feels like a long time since the striker put one in from long range.
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CHANCE! Half a chance for Alderweireld who makes his trademark near-post run but cannot keep Trippier's outswinger down.
Outstanding defending from Issa Diop, who is making a real name for himself with his early-season performances. Lucas releases Kane into the box and the England captain is preparing to pull the trigger on his left foot when Diop makes a vital block on the slide.
Impressive again from Diop who stands firm to stop Lucas in his tracks, after the Brazilian, who won his first international cap for two and a half years this week, had skipped through a couple of challenges.
Trippier stands up a cross but it is easy pickings for Fabianski, with Kane hovering at the back post for a better delivery.
LATEST: It is still goalless here but there have already been four goals at the Cardiff City Stadium where the Bluebirds are level at 2-2 with Fulham, for whom Ryan Sessegnon has scored his first Premier League goal. Elsewhere Watford lead 2-0 at Wolves and Man City 1-0 at home to Burnley.
A nervy moment for the Spurs defence as Yarmolenko runs unchecked into the left channel and quickly pulls the ball back for Snodgrass, whose first-time shot was on target but tame, and yet could have gone flying in with Alderweireld throwing his body in the way to make the block.
Major concern for West Ham here as the stretcher is on for Yarmolenko. The Ukranian was trying to turn to pick up a second ball from a corner - had he been able to do so he'd have had a decent chance on goal - but he rolls his ankle in the process and goes down, writhing in agony.
SUBSTITUTION: Big call this from Pellegrini, who opts for youngster Diangana as Yarmolenko's replacement rather than Michail Antonio. The youngster made an impression with two goals in the EFL Cup thrashing of Macclesfield Town. The Yarmolenko injury looked a real bad one.
Feint Spurs shouts for a penalty follow a trip on Sissoko in the box. The visitors play on but can't quite work a shooting chance for either Lamela or Davies either side of another Trippier cross.
GOAL! WEST HAM 0-1 SPURS (ERIK LAMELA)
Spurs snatch the lead on the stroke of the break, and it is another goal from the form man Erik Lamela. Much credit must go to the oft-maligned Sissoko though, as the Frenchman makes a good run down the right before throwing a dummy and checking back onto his left to perfectly pick out the run of Lamela, who got in between the defenders and glanced his close-range header past Fabianski.
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There will be three extra minutes here after the stoppage for Yarmolenko's injury. West Ham would have been pleased with the first half but this double blow has changed Pellegrini's half-time team talk.
SAVE! It should have been a triple blow, but Fabianski saves from Sanchez from six yards out. Lamela skips by Anderson and hits the ball goalwards in hope. The Pole spills the initial cross-cum-shot but reacts brilliantly to block the follow up. Sanchez should have scored though. A yard either side and it was 2-0.
HALF TIME: WEST HAM 0-1 SPURS
Not a lot to choose between the sides in that opening 45 minutes but Erik Lamela's goal on the stroke of half time has given Tottenham the slightest of advantages at the interval. To make matters worse for West Ham they lost big-money signing Andriy Yarmolenko to what looks like a serious injury.
LATEST: Here are the other half-time scores from around the Premier League: Bournemouth 0-0 Southampton; Cardiff 2-1 Fulham; Man City 1-0 Burnley; Newcastle 0-1 Brighton; Wolves 0-2 Watford.
STATS: The half-time numbers are probably not reflective of the action. Tottenham's 61% possession and eight shots to West Ham's three make it sound like they were dominant but that wasn't really the case. The Hammers held their own without seriously testing Hugo Lloris.
Lamela now has five goals for the season, which is as many as he has managed in four of his previous five full seasons in North London. The Argentine has added that to his game and is threatening to finally become the player that Spurs thought they signed when they paid Roma £30m back in 2013.
BENCH WATCH: Despite having already been forced into a change, Pellegrini does still have Antonio and Hernandez to call upon. I'm sure we will see Christian Eriksen at some point in the second half as they look to kill this game off. They will want to avoid being pegged back late again.
KICKOFF: The action resumes at the London Stadium, and there were no further changes at the break...
SAVE! Lloris's form has been questioned of late but that save is right out of the top drawer. Cresswell stands up a cross and Arnautovic rises above Alderweireld to direct a header towards the top corner, only for Lloris to claw it away from underneath his own crossbar.
So nearly for Spurs as Lucas drives through the middle and shifts it left to Lamela. Kane is unmarked in the middle but the Argentine can't pick him out as Balbuena takes up a good position to intercept.
Tottenham counter again but a certain ruthlessness has been missing from them on the break today. The game has opened up early in this second half though so they may get plenty more chances.
The home fans are furious after Martin Atkinson blows up when Lucas goes down theatrically. The was little need for the rolling on the floor but Snodgrass caught the Brazilian with a really nasty tackle above the ankle and is very lucky not to get booked.
SUBSTITUTION: It has not been a good day for Felipe Anderson and a cheer greets his removal as Hernandez comes on. Will this be a change of shape for the Hammers or will either he or Arnautovic operate out wide?
YELLOW CARD! Noble takes a yellow card for the team, hacking down Lamela as Spurs threatened to break away from a corner. West Ham have been shown more bookings than any other Premier League side so far this season - that their 29th.
SAVE! A poor clearing header from Winks falls nicely to Arnautovic on the edge of the box and he fires a left-footed shot towards the bottom corner, with Lloris again his nemesis as he pushes it around the post.
CHANCE! Great opportunity for Balbuena who wins his header eight yards from goal but knocks it a few yards wide. The Paraguayan defender has been first to almost everything in the air today, but perhaps should have scored there.
This is a proper London derby now! There is needle between Sanchez and Arnautovic by the right touchline and that gives the Hammers fans the impetus they need to find their voices again. Their team have been on top in the last 10 minutes or so.
Lamela and Trippier work a short-corner nicely to create the perfect angle for the latter to deliver into the box. He puts the ball right onto the head of Sanchez but the Colombian sends his header high.
West Ham are sensing that there is something in this game for them. Spurs will want to try to take the sting out of this match now, either by keeping the ball for five minutes or ideally by scoring a second.
We've not seen much of the young lad Diangana since coming on, while a proven Premier League performer and goalscorer such as Antonio sits on the bench. I wonder if Pellegrini now regrets that decision.
From their eighth corner of the match, West Ham win the first ball again but this time Diop's header was nowhere close. The hosts will be encouraged by the joy they are getting from set pieces though.
SUBSTITUTION: Antonio is now on, with Noble making way leaving Rice as the only recognised holding midfielder on the pitch for West Ham. That is all three of Pellegrini's subs gone, while Pochettino is yet to use one.
YELLOW CARD! Arnautovic has been playing on the edge for a while now and Martin Atkinson has to take action after his latest foul on Trippier.
SUBSTITUTION: Pochettino now does turn to his bench for the first time, sacrificing the potential match-winner Lamela for the midfield insurance policy of Mousa Dembele, who immediately shows his worth by halting the run of Antonio before he can get into the box, after a mistake by Dier.
No goal so far today for Kane but his hold-up play in the last 10 minutes has been excellent and crucial to stalling West Ham's momentum.
YELLOW CARD! Snodgrass goes into the book for a trip on Sissoko. That's his fourth yellow of the season already, meaning he's one away from a suspension.
There is lots of work to do for Tottenham if they are to close these three points out. If they can, they will, temporarily at least, climb above Liverpool and Arsenal into third in the table.
DISALLOWED GOAL! West Ham have the ball in the net but the flag is above against Arnautovic! It is a flowing move up the pitch from the hosts, finished off by Hernandez after a one-two with the Austrian, who was clearly offside in the build-up.
SUBSTITUTION: Kane has looked exhausted in the last few minutes and now his race is run. Fernando Llorente is on and Pochettino will hope the big Spaniard can help Spurs hold the ball up and stop it coming straight back at them, which it is at the moment.
SUBSTITUTION: And the Spurs boss winds down the clock a little bit more by swapping Sissoko for Eriksen, who has missed Tottenham's last four matches with an abdominal concern.
Antonio spins away from Trippier but can't beat the first man with his cross as Sanchez stretches out a desperate boot.
SAVE! This could be a match-winning save from Hugo Lloris; every bit as good as a goal. Arnautovic and Hernandez somehow work the ball through the middle of the Spurs defence and the goalkeeper races off his line to make a point-blank block from the former Stoke City forward, eight yards from goal.
Another corner to West Ham here. Antonio has a shattered Trippier on toast here but the quality of the delivery has not been good enough...yet.
FULL TIME: WEST HAM 0-1 SPURS
A fourth win in a row for Spurs as they withstand late pressure from the Hammers to pinch this London derby. Erik Lamela will go down as the match-winner following his first-half header, but Hugo Lloris was equally as important to the three points with a string of fine saves in the second half.
That's it from our coverage from the London Stadium. You can read our match report on the action here, and catch up with the rest of today's Premier League scores in our results section here. Thanks for joining us today. Until next time, goodbye!
Written by
Joe Fish
Joe Fish
