West Ham defeated Spurs 1-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday afternoon, ending Spurs’ perfect record at their new home.
Michail Antonio secured the bragging rights of being the first opposition player to score at the new stadium after he chased down a long punt up the field in the second half and drove his shot past Lloris.
On the whole, it was a pretty poor performance from Tottenham with a display that lacked any intensity. The Spurs players were second to most balls, particularly in the second half when visitors took full advantage of some sloppy play from the home side.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino denied that the poor performance from the players was due to the fact that they had an eye on Tuesday night’s game against Ajax.
Speaking to Football.London, the Argentine said, “I don’t believe, we cannot say now we were thinking about Tuesday. When the stress and fatigue arrived that is our reality. We are a very competitive team when we are with full energy, we are so focused.
“The stress and the fatigue arrived, we are competing with circumstances that are not the best. Nothing to say, the effort is there and is fantastic, but I’m disappointed with the result, because that result wasn’t in our plan, but that is football.”
When asked if the result is made worse by the fact that their semifinal opponents Ajax had the weekend off, the 47-year-old said, “They are the circumstances and we can’t change that.
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“Only if you ask me, I describe the reality and the effort the players are doing is amazing. After Brighton it was fantastic and today it is in the opposite.
“I still feel proud of them because it was a massive effort with a team that was preparing for the game with fresh legs – a very good team.
“With all of our circumstances we competed very well to win the game but we need to accept some time it is tough, we didn’t score but we conceded and know we need to move on. We cannot create a problem when there is not one there.”
Spurs Web’s Opinion:
There is no doubt that having extra days of rest will be a massive advantage for Ajax, particularly given how stretched Tottenham are due to their injury troubles.
While being in the final four of the Champions League is no doubt a massive achievement for the club, Pochettino’s men need to ensure that they don’t take the eye of the ball in the top 4 race, and win their two remaining games against Bournemouth and Everton.
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