Spurs rebounded nicely from the post-Carling Cup losses to Birmingham and PSV Eindhoven in the last week to pound their London rivals 4-0 in a runaway match at White Hart Lane today.
The Hammers, coming off of two previous 4-0 thrashings at the hands of Liverpool and Chelsea, got off to a roaring start but could not put one past goalie Paul Robinson in a mistake-filled exchange around the fifth minute.
Spurs recovered enough in the next few minutes to create scoring chances on West Ham fouls, and Dimitar Berbatov headed in two lovely free kicks from Tom Huddlestone in the 8th and 11th minutes, from either side of the goal, to give the home side an insurmountable lead, given the woeful offensive performance of the Hammers as of late.
The constant pounding from the opposition must've frustrated the West Ham players today, they were called for 17 fouls (Spurs were whistled for 6), and two yellow cards for the hapless Luis Boa Morte on rash challenges led to his sending off just before halftime, which really did seal the Hammers fate for the day.
Spurs finished off the match in fine style at the end of the game with goals from Gilberto in the 85th, his first for the club, and from Darren Bent, who headed in a great ball from Alan Hutton in front of a lazy Hammers defense near the end of stoppage time for his 100th career goal.
Mention must also go to the two shots Huddlestone took that should've gone in the net, he certainly had a fine game filling in for the injured Jermaine Jenas.
SPURS SOCCERNET REPORT
It was a very interesting sports weekend, what with BARNSLEY CONTINUING ON THEIR GIANT-KILLING WAYS VS. CHELSEA and MAN UNITED FALLING 0-1 AT HOME TO POMPEY in FA Cup action this weekend, while in local college basketball action, congrats must go the Oregon State Beavers for going 0-18 in regular season action, a first in Pac-10 history. Even my parents, die-hard Beaver fans, couldn't be bothered to attend Saturday's finale after Thursday's pitiful exhibition against Arizona. The Ducks continued their run toward another NCAA bid with a NICE WIN OVER THE WILDCATS.
One note on the Man United match, goalie Edwin van dar Saar was taken off at halftime, replaced with Tomasz Kuszczak, who received a red card for taking down Milan Baros late in the match. Out of goalies, the Red Devils placed Rio Ferdinand in the box to play the penalty kick taken by Sulley Muntari in the 78th minute. Ferdinand correctly guessed the direction of the shot, but could not stop it from going in, giving Pompey the victory at Old Trafford. At the end though, Sir Alex Ferguson was just a wee bit hot under the collar about the REFEREEING.
Barnsley were the well-deserved victors in their match at the Oakwell, and their win ensure that none of the Big 4 (Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Chelsea) will be on hand to lift the Cup trophy for the first time in 15 years. The bad news is that Avram Grant knows that his time at Chelsea is running out, UNLESS HE CAN WIN THE LEAGUE OR THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, an unlikely feat given his puzzling management decisions. Even the Champions League win over Olympiakos has to coloured with the fact that the Greeks put on one of the most pathetic performances seen at this late of a stage in the competion in quite awhile.
Come on you Spurs..............let's go Ducks...........and ha-ha to the Beavers.
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