Cool marksmanship by Ian Wright and Marc Keller in a heated squabble left West
Ham with all the pride at White Hart Lane despite David Ginola's explosive
finish for Tottenham.
But those details tell only half the story of a frantically-fought derby which
ended with Hammers' former Spurs midfielder John Moncur sent off in stoppage
time for a crude, scything lunge on Jose Dominguez.
They were at it from the first whistle and the ending was almost inevitable
but in the final analysis the Hammers just about did enough to win in a
confrontation in which local pride was the only issue at stake.
You certainly would not have thought so. The teams slugged it out with a
fierce intensity more akin to a war zone but the difference was the clinical
touch applied by Londoner Wright and Frenchman Keller.
Frank Lampard should have put West Ham ahead after only a minute but when
trying to go around Ian Walker's desperate challenge instead of chipping him he
was squeezed out for space and the opportunity went begging.
Four minutes later, though, former Arsenal star Wright, just back from three
months off following a knee operation, showed his team-mates how to do it.
Once more the Spurs defence was split down the middle this time by Eyal
Berkovic's visionary through ball and although Walker charged off his line to
kick it away from Trevor Sinclair it landed only as far as Wright who despatched
it into an empty net from 30 yards.
Spurs have already qualified for Europe via the Worthington Cup while West Ham
are banking on a change of heart from UEFA to sample a similar pleasure next
season.
And Tottenham gave the impression they believed their season was already
complete as far as attainment goes. They were sluggish both in defence and
midfield and up front were barely able to manage a real shot of note until
Darren Anderton fired a rocket just over the bar from distance.
Berkovic ran the show for Hammers in midfield and a surprisingly off-key
Ginola could not match him. It looked one of those afternoons for the Frenchman
when he tumbled in the box just before half-time after Ian Pearce's challenge
only for referee Uriah Rennie to book him for diving.
Rennie had already yellow-carded Berkovic for trying to get Tottenham's
Steffen Freund booked for a foul. The Israeli unforgivably waved an imaginary
card at the referee in what is becoming a sad trend in the Premiership.
Berkovic at times supplied a magical touch amid a rumbustious contest which
produced six bookings as well as Moncur's red card.
After Shaka Hislop produced a breathtaking save to deny Dominguez a Tottenham
equaliser in his first start for 15 months, it was Berkovic who appeared to sew
up the points for West Ham in the 66th minute.
His delightfully-threaded through ball sent Keller, who had already hit a
post, racing in behind the Tottenham defence to strike his drive with enough
power to beat Walker's flailing left hand.
Tottenham, however, made this the signal for a fightback and Ginola redeemed
all his previous poor form with a stunning strike from 20 yards which crashed
into the top corner.
With 24 minutes left Spurs looked on for a point at least as West Ham suddenly
tired but somehow Hislop, with smart saves from Sol Campbell and substitute
Allan Nielsen, kept Hammers afloat.
In a fiery finale Rennie booked Tottenham's Mauricio Taricco and West Ham's
Rio Ferdinand after a midfield shoving match involving most players on the pitch
after the Argentine's crunching challenge on Freund.
Taricco may well have been lucky to escape just a caution but the referee had
no option in stopped time when Moncur reflected the visitors growing desperation
with a dreadful challenge on Dominguez but it was too late for Tottenham to take
advantage of their numerical edge.
Teams:
Tottenham: Walker, Carr, Campbell, Young, Taricco,
Anderton (Nielsen 73), Sherwood, Freund, Ginola,
Iversen (Armstrong 83), Dominguez.
Subs Not Used: Baardsen, Nilsen, Fox.
Booked: Anderton, Ginola, Taricco.
Goals: Ginola 73.
West Ham: Hislop, Lomas, Pearce, Ferdinand, Minto, Sinclair,
Moncur, Berkovic, Lampard, Keller, Wright (Lazaridis 90).
Subs Not Used: Forrest, Mean, Cole, Bullard.
Sent Off: Moncur (90).
Booked: Berkovic, Moncur, Ferdinand, Lomas.
Goals: Wright 5, Keller 66.
Att: 36,089
Ref: U Rennie (Sheffield).
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