Spurs’ top four hopes dented in 1-1 draw at West Ham
IMAGE: West Ham United’s Kurt Zouma scores their first goal. Photograph: Tony Obrien/Reuters
Tottenham Hotspur missed the chance to move into the top four when they were held to a 1-1 draw at West Ham United after Brennan Johnson’s early strike was cancelled out by Kurt Zouma in their Premier League clash on Tuesday.
The result left Spurs in fifth place on 57 points, two points and one spot behind Aston Villa, who have also played 30 games and visit Manchester City on Wednesday. West Ham remain in seventh place in the standings with 45 points from 31 games.
Spurs made three changes with Micky van de Ven, Rodrigo Bentancur and Johnson coming into the side, while West Ham brought in goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski for the injured Alphonse Areola, and it was the visitors who had the brighter start.
Postecoglou’s side looked up for the battle in east London and went in front after five minutes through Johnson, who scored from close range when he connected with a low cross from Timo Werner following a slick counter-attack down the left.
Spurs looked dangerous on the break after the goal, with Pedro Porro fizzing a shot just wide and captain Son Heung-min having a left-foot curler saved before West Ham equalised.
Zouma rose amongst a crowd of players in the six-yard box and managed to steer the ball into the net off his back from a Jarrod Bowen corner in the 19th with the Tottenham defence and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario failing to snuff out the danger.
The goal gave West Ham confidence and James Ward-Prowse struck a vicious free kick towards the top right-hand corner that Vicario did well to punch clear.
West Ham forced a series of corners before the break as they cranked up the pressure but the Tottenham defence dealt with them much more efficiently than they had for the equaliser.
Spurs dominated possession but the home team had almost as many chances in an entertaining game that saw both sides trying to attack and leaving space at the back, although the finishing was poor in an electric atmosphere at the London Stadium.
West Ham had a great chance to take the lead on the counter-attack after an hour when Michail Antonio raced through having shrugged off Van de Ven but he shot tamely at Vicario.
Both sides sensed they could find a winner and the game became stretched but the defences held firm, with Tottenham defender Destiny Udogie having a chance to snatch all three points in stoppage time but his low shot was saved by Fabianski.
Bournemouth on the rise as Kluivert goal sinks Palace
IMAGE: AFC Bournemouth’s Justin Kluivert scores their first goal. Photograph: Paul Childs/Reuters
Bournemouth gave themselves an outside chance of qualifying for Europe with a 1-0 home victory over Crystal Palace that left the visitors still looking over their shoulders on Tuesday.
A scrappy Premier League game not helped by heavy rain was decided in the 80th minute by Justin Kluivert who finished well after good work by fellow substitute Antoine Semenyo.
Victory lifted Bournemouth above Chelsea into 11th place, just four points behind seventh-placed West Ham United.
After a fourth league game without a win, Palace are in 14th place with 30 points, eight ahead of 18th-placed Luton Town.
They could have few complaints as they managed only two efforts on target — one of which was netted by Eberechi Eze just before halftime but the goal was disallowed by VAR after Jean-Philippe Mateta was adjudged offside.
While Palace should stay out of trouble, Bournemouth can already start planning for another top-flight campaign after moving to 41 points and it could get even better.
Andoni Iraola’s side have picked up 13 points from their last five league games and are on course to surpass their best-ever top-flight finish of ninth in 2016-17.
Burnley lose ground in relegation fight after 1-1 draw with Wolves
IMAGE: Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Jose Sa in action with Burnley’s Jay Rodriguez. Photograph: Molly Darlington/Reuters
Burnley’s hopes of Premier League survival were dealt another blow despite a brilliant strike by Jacob Bruun Larsen as Wolverhampton Wanderers fought back from a goal down to draw 1-1 at Turf Moor on Tuesday.
Nottingham Forest’s 3-1 over Fulham earlier in the evening means that they are in 17th place on 25 points, three ahead of Luton Town in 18th spot and six ahead of second-from-bottom Burnley, while Wolves are 10th on 42 points.
Burnley went ahead in the 37th minute through Bruun Larsen, who met a deep cross on the right from Dara O’Shea with a stunning volley with his instep that flew past the helpless Jose Sa in the Wolves goal.
However, Wolves levelled in first-half stoppage time as Rayan Ait-Nouri was left completely unmarked in the box to send a powerful downward header from Pablo Sarabia’s free kick bouncing into the net.
Ait-Nouri should have had a second for Wolves in the 53rd minute when he latched on to a long ball through the middle, but he blasted his shot straight at the keeper.
Five minutes later fellow goal-scorer Bruun Larsen also spurned a decent chance to grab another goal, and Wilson Odobert forced another fine save from Sa when blasted a shot through a crowd of players that the keeper did well to push away.
Despite some excellent attacking play, Burnley’s defence was found wanting again as Mario Lemina was left unmarked in the middle, but he headed his effort just wide in the 86th minute.
Burnley substitute Jay Rodriguez had the ball in the net two minutes later, but he had strayed offside and the goal was chalked off, and he failed to connect with an effort from Manuel Benson that whistled just wide as the game finished 1-1.
The draw stretched Burnley’s streak to four league games unbeaten, and manager Vincent Kompany was lyrical about his team’s effort.
