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| Younes Kaboul hugged Eric Dier after the latter scored the winning goal |
Tottenham Hotspur.com
Eric Dier struck a dramatic debut goal in injury time as we opened our Premier League campaign with a win at West Ham on Saturday.
Dier provided the perfect finish to a fine move in the 93rd minute - our 50th Premier League goal against the Hammers - to secure three points in Mauricio Pochettino's first match as Head Coach.
Earlier, Dier formed part of a dogged defensive display after we
were reduced to 10 men following Kyle Naughton's red card for handball
in the 30th minute.
However, Mark Noble missed the spot-kick and we repelled everything
the Hammers had to throw at us until the numbers were levelled up on 64
minutes when James Collins picked up his second yellow card to follow
Naughton down the tunnel for an early bath.
It looked like ending 0-0 - until Dier capped an impressive display with the winner to send the Spurs fans into raptures.
Mauricio named his first Spurs team for a competitive fixture
without the players who featured in the latter stages of the World Cup -
Paulinho and the Belgian contingent - while handing a debut to Dier
alongside captain Younes Kaboul - his 100th Premier League appearance
for us - at the back.
Nabil Bentaleb and Etienne Capoue held the midfield enforcer roles,
with playmakers Erik Lamela, Aaron Lennon and Christian Eriksen ahead
of them and behind target man Emmanuel Adebayor.
A keeper - West Ham's Adrian on this occasion - was called into
action for the first time on eight minutes when he routinely fielded an
Eriksen free-kick. The game certainly did not explode into action from
the off, more gentle sparring and probing, as opposed to any kind of
onslaught.
Territory-wise, it was the men in white shirts looking the most
assured and slightly more on the front foot, but without causing too
much anxiety among the home crowd.
West Ham began to exert a little bit of pressure towards the midway
point of the half, with a more direct style causing some uncertainty at
the back, but nothing that resulted in Hugo Lloris having to become
involved in play.
Kevin Nolan nodded wide from a Joey O'Brien cross before Carlton
Cole squared across the area, forcing Danny Rose into an emergency
clearing operation at the back post. Those in claret and blue were
lifted and the atmosphere momentarily increased in volume.
It cranked up further when, in the 28th minute, a corner was
allowed to be nodded back into the danger zone and Nolan tried a shot on
the turn that was blocked by the close attendance of Naughton. Probably
unavoidably, Naughton's arms played a part in the block and after
prompting from his assistant, referee Mr Foy pointed to the spot and
also showed red to Naughton.
Noble then shot wide with his penalty, but the penalty of playing with 10 men remained. Capoue slotted in at the back alongside Kaboul, with Dier moving
right to cover for the absence of Naughton. Ricardo Vaz Te flashed
across goal on 37 minutes as West Ham sought to capitalise on their
numerical advantage.
A darting run by Lamela and lay-off from Adebayor presented Lennon
with a shooting chance shortly before the break that dipped just over
the bar.
Lloris was tested for the first time eight minutes into the second
half by a stinging low drive from Cheikou Kouyate, but West Ham were
struggling to make inroads against the 10 men.
Eriksen was looking most likely to unlock the gate at the other end
but, for the most part, this was turned into a rearguard action with
the Dane and Lennon dropping deep to protect the back four. Lewis Holtby and Andros Townsend made their entrance with 30 minutes left on the clock, taking over from Lamela and Lennon.
The numbers were then level due to Collins seeing yellow for the second time, hauling down Adebayor.
Townsend fizzed in an effort that Adrian needed two hands to divert
over, before the winger tried again with a shot that was diverted
across goal. The arrival of the England winger and Holtby did introduce a
new energy to a side that had been on the back foot since the sending
off of Naughton.
A mix up between Bentaleb and Kaboul allowed Noble to home in on
goal and only a smart save from Lloris prevented the deadlock being
broken in a careless fashion.
Harry Kane was next to join play with nine minutes of normal time remaining, taking the place of Adebayor.
Lloris then made what turned out to be a match-winning, point-blank save from Downing with only three minutes remaining.
Adrian did well to turn away Bentaleb's stinger as we ticked into
four minutes added time - and then the moment that really mattered.
Kaboul pinged a pass into Kane, he picked out Dier's run across the
back line from right to left and through on goal, the England Under-21
international provided a nerveless finish, skipping past Adrian and
slotting home.
West Ham: Adrian; O'Brien (Demel, 62), Collins, Reid, Cresswell;
Downing, Kouyate, Noble, Nolan, Vaz Te (Diame, 68); Cole (Valencia, 81).
Subs (not used): Jaaskelainen, Zarata, Poyet, Burke.
Spurs: Lloris; Naughton, Dier, Kaboul (C), Rose; Bentaleb, Capoue;
Lennon (Townsend, 61), Eriksen, Lamela (Holtby, 61); Adebayor (Kane,
83). Subs (not used): Friedel, Davies, Dawson, Soldado.
Goals: Spurs - Dier (90+3).
Yellow cards: West Ham - Collins, Kouyate.
Red cards: West Ham - Collins (second yellow). Spurs - Naughton.
Referee: Mr C Foy.
Attendance: 34,977.
