West Ham United 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur
Goals: Heung-min Son (£9.6m), Lucas Moura (£7.0m), Harry Kane (£10.8m) | Michail Antonio (£6.9m), Angelo Ogbonna (£4.5m)
Assists: Dele Alli (£8.4m), Heung-min Son (£9.6m), Serge Aurier (£4.8m) | Mark Noble (£5.0m), Robert Snodgrass (£5.2m)
Bonus Points: Son x3, Aurier x2, Kane x1
Son Heung-min (£9.6m) was the main eye-catcher in Gameweek 13’s early kick-off as Fantasy Premier League managers eyed the beginning of the Jose Mourinho era at Spurs with a keen interest.
The South Korean star registered a 13-point haul thanks to a goal, assist and three bonus points and appears to be an obvious target for investment if the new manager can continue to get goals and points on the board.
Deployed in the number 10 role, Dele Alli (£8.4m) was another to impress at the London Stadium, also placing himself firmly on the Fantasy radar. He registered the assist for Son’s goal before producing some sublime skill to begin the move that led to Lucas Moura (£7.0m) slotting past Roberto (£4.4m) for Spurs’ second.
“It was just in front of me. The piece of skill was amazing, but what for me is more amazing is the mental thing in relation that. You only do that if you are focused, committed, ultra confident. If not you give up when you have bad feeling, sadness, you don’t do that piece of skill. It is amazing, but it only comes when from an emotional point of view everything is positive. Fantastic, I am really happy.” – Jose Mourinho
The Spanish goalkeeper had another torrid day at the office, lunging at several balls into the box and failing to get a strong hand to Son’s opener.
Issa Diop (£4.5m) also got an early yellow card for a coming-together with Kane. That was the defender’s fifth booking of the season, meaning West Ham will be without their first-choice centre-half for the trip to Chelsea in Gameweek 14. The resulting free-kick saw Roberto flail at the ball as Davinson Sanchez (£5.3m) rushed in but the offside flag rose once more.
His display, combined with the lack of Diop next time out, should encourage owners of Chelsea assets as they continue to be highly-owned going into Gameweek 14.
Harry Kane (£10.8m) – who nodded in a third Tottenham goal before West Ham’s extremely late fightback – is also someone under the microscope with Mourinho’s arrival. He had the ball in the net for Spurs after three minutes at the London Stadium but the striker was offside when he received a through ball from Alli.
Son was the next player to slide Kane through but again the England captain found himself ahead of the West Ham defence when the ball was played.
In the early part of the game, Kane was very much operating as an out-and-out centre-forward, like he did years before which is why he was able to enjoy several key chances. However, as the encounter wore on, he dropped a little deeper so we will still have to monitor his positioning under Mourinho.
In an open start to this London derby, Sebastien Haller (£7.2m) headed straight at Paulo Gazzaniga (£4.5m) from close range, with Andriy Yarmolenko (£5.9m) supplying the cross.
Son, operating from the left of Mourinho’s 4-2-3-1, stung Roberto’s palms from just outside the box on 19 minutes.
Serge Aurier (£4.8m) appeared to be targeted by West Ham, with several of the Irons’ attacking moves going down their left flank in the opening half. The Tottenham right-back also got away with a potential penalty shout after he collided with Robert Snodgrass (£5.2m) in the box.
Felipe Anderson (£6.8m) was next to get beyond Aurier after a slide-rule pass from Mark Noble (£5.0m) but his cut-back evaded Haller as the forward charged into the box.
Alli attempted another through-ball in the 33rd minute to find Son but Declan Rice’s sliding tackle stopped the South Korea attacker from attempting to break the deadlock.
Rice rescued the Irons again two minutes later but he could not stop Spurs making the breakthrough on 36 minutes. No. 10 Alli popped up in space once more to find Son in the box. The midfielder’s left-footed shot found the corner of Roberto’s net, though many will feel the goalkeeper could have done better considering the angle of Son’s shot.
The shot-stopper had another moment to forget before half time as his fist collided with Angelo Ogbonna (£4.5m) instead of the ball from a Spurs free-kick. He did manage to get a hand to Alli’s follow-up shot but there is no question that the Spaniard is not inspiring confidence in those playing ahead of him. While it’s good news for those who are going to play West Ham in the future, Roberto’s performance may mean we have to somewhat temper our expectations of what Spurs are capable of under Mourinho. After all, it is likely that Mauricio Pochettino probably could have orchestrated such a win given the Hammers’ poor display.
Spurs made it 2-0 just before the half-time whistle, largely thanks to an incredible piece of Alli skill that somehow kept the ball in play on the touchline. That flick set Son free down the left, with his low cross converted at the back post by Moura.
Spurs continued to dominate early in the second half, as Moura missed a big chance when set free by Son before Kane got himself on the scoresheet. He rose over Diop to head home Aurier’s cross in the 50th minute.
However, just as Spurs were potentially offering potential for defensive assets, West Ham came back into the game to remind Fantasy managers of the defensive problems that had crept up on Pochettino’s final weeks at the helm.
Michail Antonio (£6.9m) made his comeback from a long-term injury by replacing Anderson at the interval, while Pablo Fornals (£6.0m) came on for Yarmolenko in the 56th minute, the former having a big impact.
Antonio, arguably the only bright spark for West Ham other than Snodgrass, stung Gazzaniga’s palms on 60 minutes from an advanced position, before Diop denied Kane at the other end with a last-ditch sliding tackle.
As Mourinho commented post-match, Spurs failed to control the last 30 minutes of the game despite being very comfortable in the opening 60. Asked about Alli’s mostly-excellent performance, the Spurs boss said:
“Dele was like the team, he was brilliant for 60-65 minutes and then he paid the price of the times, so he went a little bit down. He was the old Dele Alli, the Dele Alli of a couple of years ago, that impressed not just England but the world. He did exactly what I wanted him to do, with two days of work. With important selection of information I tried to make clear for him exactly the spaces where we wanted him to play. Offensively and defensively, he is an intelligent footballer to understand what we wanted and very, very important for the team. I am really pleased with his performance.” – Jose Mourinho
It was Antonio who grabbed West Ham’s first goal in the 74th minute, firing into the bottom corner after Noble won the ball near the Spurs box.
Antonio – the Hammers’ most advanced player in the second half – almost squeezed in a late effort from the byline and from the resultant corner, Ogbonna headed home Snodgrass’ delivery. Spurs were relieved to hear the full-time whistle immediately afterwards, as West Ham left it too late to earn a point.
Finally, Carlos Sanchez (£4.4m) came on for Diop midway through the second period, a move which saw Rice drop to centre-back from the final 30 minutes. The midfielder could rival Fabian Balbuena (£4.3m) for a place in defence away to Chelsea.
West Ham United XI (4-2-3-1): Roberto; Cresswell, Diop, Ogbonna, Fredericks; Rice, Noble; Yarmolenko, Snodgrass, Anderson; Haller.
Tottenham Hotspur XI (4-2-3-1): Gazzaniga; Davies, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Aurier; Winks, Dier; Son, Dele, Lucas; Kane.
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Gameweek 13 – FPL Match Reports
- West Ham United 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur
- Arsenal 2-2 Southampton
- AFC Bournemouth 1-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Brighton & Hove Albion 0-2 Leicester City
- Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool
- Everton 0-2 Norwich City
- Watford 0-3 Burnley
- Manchester City 2-1 Chelsea
- Sheffield United 3-3 Manchester United
- Aston Villa 2-0 Newcastle United
Nominated for ‘Best in Fantasy Football – Editorial’ at the Football Content Awards 2020
4 years, 11 months agoGoing to be another interesting week for the (c) next GW!