West Ham star admits he was impressed by Tottenham’s style of play in defeat

West Ham midfielder Declan Rice has admitted that he was impressed with Tottenham’s style of play at the London Stadium on Sunday, but also praised his side’s resilience to see out the victory.

The Hammers extended Tottenham’s miserable run against London opposition, claiming a 1-0 win thanks to Michail Antonio’s second-half strike.

Spurs started proceedings slowly but eventually grew into the game, generating a handful of chances later into the first-half and early in the second period.

However, West Ham managed to suppress Nuno Espirito Santo’s side, who failed to register a single shot on target in the second half.

Rice, who put in yet another solid shift for the hosts, said he was impressed with how well Spurs played with the ball and admitted his side had to alter their game to counter Tottenham’s style of play.

Rice told West Ham’s official website: “It’s unbelievable, a special day.

“We know what a tough fixture this is, and we haven’t had the fans in for a while for a Spurs game, so to win today meant the place was rocking. It was really special out there.

“We said before the game that we really wanted to press them, get up to the ball and try to make them kick it long, but I thought they played some really good football to be fair and we had to show a different side to our game.

“But when we got the ball back we looked a threat, and then to get the goal from another set-piece like we did and hold out was special.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Spurs had a decent amount of possession against West Ham which is surprising given how many games we haven’t had the ball, but the side wasn’t that effective with it. The Hammers were more than happy for Spurs to have the ball, before capitalising on any mistakes.

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