Moyes praises Hammers resolve as Obiang piledriver earns point at Spurs
West Ham manager David Moyes heralded his side’s steely resilience after they endured intense Tottenham pressure at Wembley to snatch an improbable 1-1 draw.
Two second-half screamers saw the London rivals share the spoils after Spurs forward Heung-Min Son thumped home to cancel out Pedro Obiang’s own piledriver from distance, a result that means the Hammers have now lost just once in seven games.
The relegation-threatened club had just three shots to Tottenham’s 31, yet Moyes made little apology for his side’s approach to the fixture.
“The biggest thing for us was how long we could make sure we didn’t allow Tottenham to score,” said the former Manchester United and Everton boss.
“I would really like to have the players Tottenham have and maybe one day at West Ham we will. But at the moment we don’t and my job as a coach is to find a way of getting results for the club.
“I thought we showed fantastic resolve to keep going, to get in the way and block things. And the resilience they have as well. I have to praise the players. We want to play better and in a different way at times. But because of the gulf at the moment between the clubs at the top and those in the bottom and the middle, football is played in different ways.”
Tottenham’s failure to convert their dominance into three points saw them lose ground on Liverpool – they trail the Reds by three points – in the battle for a Champions League spot, but Mauricio Pochettino was unfazed with his side’s struggle to breakthrough.
“Sometimes it happens in football that you push and push, you create, you have chances and it’s impossible to score,” said the Argentinean.
“I’m not worried [about finishing outside the top four]. We are in the middle of the season. We missed the opportunity today but I think we are close.”
Pochettino’s outfit dictated proceedings throughout but only fleetingly unlocked a disciplined West Ham defence whose goalkeeper Adrian was on hand whenever they did so.
Son and Christian Eriksen both forced saves from the Spaniard before the break, while Harry Kane failed to control a Serge Aurier cross when the goal was gaping on the half-hour mark.
Both Son and Eriksen had shots otherwise headed for goal blocked by West Ham’s blockade of bodies shortly after the restart, before Obiang put the visitors into an unlikely lead.
With West Ham making a rare foray deep into Spurs’ territory after 20 minutes, Obiang opted to try something that his teammates had not yet done by taking a shot at goal.
His 30-yard attempt thundered past Hugo Lloris in the Spurs goal to silence the home crowd.
Tottenham continued to probe but it was left to Son to take notice of the Obiang’s approach and unleash a venomous shot from distance to finally break Adrian’s resistance and level matters.
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