New Zealand defender Winston Reid inspired West Ham to their first victory at Tottenham in 14 years as the Hammers climbed out of the relegation zone with a 3-0 win on Sunday.
|Last Updated: Oct 07, 2013, 12:31 AM IST|Source: Bureau
London: New Zealand defender Winston Reid inspired West Ham to their first victory at Tottenham in 14 years as the Hammers climbed out of the relegation zone with a 3-0 win on Sunday.
Reid`s first goal since September 2012 opened the scoring midway through the second half before Ricardo Vaz Te and Ravel Morrison both netted to end the east London club`s long wait for a first triumph at White Hart Lane since April 1999.
It was a stunning victory for Sam Allardyce`s side, who started the day in the bottom three and hadn`t even scored an away goal this season before Sunday`s London derby.
Their biggest win over Spurs since April 1994 was also their first Premier League success since beating Cardiff on the opening day of the season.
Lacklustre Tottenham could have no complaints about their first defeat in seven matches in all competitions and only their second league loss of the campaign.
Much of the pre-match attention had focused on the behaviour of both sets of fans, who were under the microscope following offensive chanting from Hammers supporters in the corresponding fixture last season and Tottenham`s insistence that their followers should stop using the word "Yid" in their songs.
Yid is a term for Jew which is often considered derogatory, but some Spurs fans chant the word, or refer to themselves as "Yiddos" or the "Yid Army", as an act of defiance towards those who taunt them over their Jewish fan base.
Spurs fans were quick to ignore their club`s plea, chanting "We`ll sing what we want" before breaking into a defiant chorus of "Yid Army".
Initially it seemed like the subdued fare on the pitch would be overshadowed by the chanting.
West Ham, opting for a cautious formation which often left them with six midfielders and no forwards, kept Andre Villas-Boas`s team at bay until Gylfi Sigurdsson`s speculative effort brought Jussi Jaaskelainen into action for the first time.
Villas-Boas`s side needed the kind of moment of individual inspiration that Gareth Bale provided so often before his move to Real Madrid.
Andros Townsend, one of the players Villas-Boas hopes can replace Bale, almost rose to the challenge when he cut inside and flashed a powerful long-range shot narrowly wide of the far post.
But, with Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe struggling to make any impact in a rare start against his former club, Kevin Nolan nearly punished the hosts when he got in front of Paulinho and volleyed just wide from Mark Noble`s chipped free-kick.
Defoe should have put Spurs ahead less than a minute into the second half, but Jaaskelainen was quickly off his line to block his tame shot.
Determined to make amends for that miss, Defoe lashed in a fierce strike which whistled just over from the edge of the area.
With Spurs labouring to break down the stout Hammers defence, Villas-Boas sent on club record signing Erik Lamela.
But it was Allardyce`s side who snatched the lead in the 66th minute when Reid`s header from Stewart Downing`s corner bounced back to him off Nolan and the centre-back slammed the ball past Lloris from close-range.
Spurs looked shell-shocked and it got even worse for the hosts six minutes later when Noble`s astute pass allowed Vaz Te a clear run on goal.
Vaz Te`s initial shot was blocked by Lloris but the ball rebounded back off the Portuguese forward and past the stranded Spurs keeper into the empty net.
To cap a memorable afternoon for West Ham, they added a third goal in the 79th minute when former Manchester United midfielder Morrison ran from inside his own half, nut-megging Michael Dawson en route, before clipping his shot over the exposed Lloris to trigger a mass exit from the stunned home fans.
AFP
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