sport news Spurs fizzled and disappointed again at the home of West Ham, writes MATT ... trends now
Tottenham have not warmed to the Olympic Park. The last time they won here was the opening game of Jose Mourinho’s tenure, with the Amazon cameras rolling behind the scenes to see if his special powers might extend to rekindling Dele Alli’s flame.
Turned out they did not. And four years and three managers down the line, with Adam Peaty leading a parade of hopefuls for the Paris Games up and down the pool in the nearby Aquatics Centre, they made the short journey to Stratford.
Could they continue in the best Olympic traditions by turning it on every four years, firing hopes of qualification for the Champions League and turn up the heat on Aston Villa as they went up against Manchester City?
Turned out they could not. Brennan Johnson gave them a flying start with his fourth goal in eight games but Spurs fizzled and disappointed again at the home of West Ham.
Kurt Zouma scored the equaliser and helped the home team resist to a take a point, watched from the stands by his family and childhood friend Paul Pogba, the Juventus midfielder currently serving a ban after a positive drugs test.
Tottenham have still not won at the London Stadium since Jose Mourinho's first game after they were held by West Ham
Johnson scored his fourth in eight games to promise a win over their rivals before Spurs fizzled out
Kurt Zouma scored the equaliser with a glancing header beyond Guglielmo Vicario for his third of the season
West Ham started in the same careless defensive fashion they finished in at Newcastle, where they transformed a 3-1 lead into a 4-3 defeat with a late collapse on Saturday, while Tottenham’s Johnson started in the way he finished against Luton, three days earlier.
Johnson came off the bench to inspire another comeback win for Spurs on Saturday, which was enough to earn him a return to the starting line-up, and he found the net within five minutes at the London Stadium.
Rodrigo Bentancur rolled a short pass to Timo Werner who beat Vladimir Coufal with a change of pace and cut the ball square. Johnson arrived in a hurry from the opposition flank, just as Ange Postecoglou demands, to convert from close range.
There was little chance for goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianksi, the only change made by David Moyes to the team that started at Newcastle, where Alphonse Areola picked up an injury.
It was a terrific start for Ange Postecoglou and the first time his
