WEST HAM UNITED v TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
SATURDAY 3 MAY 2014
KICK-OFF: 12.45PM
REFEREE: PHIL DOWD
FULL AUDIO AND TEXT COMMENTARY - WEST HAM TV
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Full time: West Ham United 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur
FT: All over and what a way to sign off at home! West Ham have defeated Tottenham for a third time this season and secured mathematical safety in the process. This was a deserved three points as the Hammers took full advantage of Younes Kaboul's early red card. Andy Carroll was unplayable at times and his header flicked off Harry Kane's head for the first, before Stewart Downing struck on the stroke of half time to make it two. It was comfortable from then and really could have been more had it not been for Hugo Lloris' heroics. A most enjoyable afternoon at the office!
90+1: Fine save from Adrian to deny Rose a consolation as he advanced into the box. He's not had much to do but he did well there to turn a fierce shot over.
90: Now it's West Ham's turn to shout for a spot kick as Jarvis goe down in the box after behind fed by Carlton Cole. Again Dowd is unmoved. Meanwhile, we'll have three minutes of stoppage time.
89: Sandro balloons a shot way over the crossbar, mich to the delight of the Boleyn Ground crowd. The Hammers closing in on a third win of the season over Spurs.
88: The Hammers make their second change, with Matt Jarvis replacing Kevin Nolan.
87: Big Spurs appreals for a penalty as Demel gives the ball away in midfield, allowing them to break. Lennon crosses and Taylor blocks, but Dowd decides any contact with his arm was accidental.
84: He's been super-effective today and Carroll deservedly gets a standing ovation from the Hammers fans as he is replaced by Carlton Cole for the final six minutes.
83: Carroll gets up at the far stick to direct a header down into the ground, but also into Lloris' hands as a group of Hammers over in the East Stand start a conga going.
81: The Hammers break up that Spurs spell by moving forward down the left and Sandro has to concede a free-kick, wrestling Diame to the ground. Meanwhile, Carlton Cole is preparing to come on.
77: Tottenham are enjoying their best period of possession of the game at the moment, but West Ham are remaining sturdy at the back and there's no way through right now.
74: Spurs move forward with menace down the left as Lennon runs at Demel and elects to shoot from outside the box. He fails to get the right connection though and drags comfortably wide of the near post. The away side are starting to show a little more though
73: An opening for Soldado from a tricky angle after the ball travels over McCartney at the far post. He snatches at the shot though, and that's no problem for Adrian.
70: It's getting a bit tasty as Soldado attempts to tackle Demel too aggressively. He should really have been booked for the tackle, but instead sees yellow, along with Nolan, for the argument which followed..
67: Noble wins possession inside Spurs territory and feeds the ball down the line to Downing. He looks to send an early cross into the box, but doesn't quite get it right as his attempt sails behind for a goal kick.
65: Double change for the visitors. Sandro and Roberto Soldado are on for Paulinho and Gylfi Sigurdsson.
64: Lloris is right behind another shot, although this one is a more regulation save as Taylor fires goalwards from the edge of the area after Nolan holds up possession and lays back to the No14.
61: An awkward moment for Adrian as Eriksen sends a cross towards the near post. The keeper gathers into his chest, but collides with the upright in the process and fumbles behind for a corner. Thankfully the flag kick comes to nothing.
57: Spurs show that they still possess a threat as Eriksen makes a bustling run forward, shrugging off Noble in the process. Lennon takes over and makes his way into the box, but finds his path blocked as West Ham get the ball clear.
56: Without Lloris it would be a cricket score right now. Carroll wins yet another header and all of a sudden Nolan is all alone. He waits for the ball to drop, swivels and shoots, but Lloris closes him down well to knock behind for a corner.
53: The Hammers are finding their rhythm again, but a promising move comes to an end as Noble's attempted flick out towards Downing on the right has too much juice on it. West Ham fancy more here.
50: West Ham come to lift and only Lloris' brilliance saves them again. Downing's cross is met with a quite wonderful acrobatic effort from Diame, which bounces down into the turf and towards goal. Lloris springs to his right to parry, then has to react quickly to kick away from the onrushing Carroll, before Taylor places a shot just wide from the edge of the area.
48: A quiet start to the second period comes to an end as Adrian is tempted off his line and over to the right hand side of his box. Adebayor gets there first, but Adrian stands him up well before the Spurs striker passes back to Eriksen, whose cross is poor.
1.47pm: The game gets back underway, with the Hammers shooting towards the Bobby Moore Stand in the second half.
HT: The whistle goes for half-time and what a productive 45 minutes that has been for the Hammers. Even before Kaboul's sending off the Hammers could be happy with their start, and then they took full advantage of Kaboul's dismissal to move into a position of real strength. More of the same after half-time please!
45: Two minutes of injury time have been signalled and Carroll goes close to deepening the visitors' misery with a left-footed shot that dribbles wide of the mark.
44: GOAL! 2-0 WEST HAM Just what the Hammers wanted before the break as Downing scores his first goal for the Club to make it 2-0. Questions have to be asked about Adebayor and Paulinho in the wall as space opened up between them, allowing the winger's shot to fly through and leave Lloris well beaten. The goalkeeper will not be happy.
43: West Ham have another free-kick in the edge of the box after Spurs are caught in possession and Noble is hauled down by Dawson, who goes into referee Dowd's book.
42: Spurs keep the ball down the Hammers left for a sustained spell, but can do little more than win a number of throw-ins before Naughton sends a hopeful cross into the box which clears everybody and gives the home side a way out.
39: Spurs just cannot deal with Carroll in the air at the moment as he gets his head to another ball, meaning Lloris has to be sharply off his line to prevent Nolan from nipping in for a second.
36: Play goes to the other end and only a magnificent save from Lloris denies the Hammers a second as Taylor shows excellent control to keep his left-footed volley down. The ball was bound for the bottom right hand corner before Tottenham's French goalie manager to get down and flick the ball behind with a strong wrist. Fine save.
35: Spurs go on the offensive for the first time since their red card, and it looks for a second as though Reid misjudged the flight of a long ball forward as Adebayor lurked, but he managed to back-head the ball to a diving Adrian.
32: Danny Rose takea a chance in knocking the ball back to Lloris at the far post after McCartney fizzes a teasing low cross over from the left. In the end it's safe enough, but his heart must have been in his mouth for a moment before his goalkeeper gathered.
30: Downing's enjoying himself out there and he cuts inside Rose before delivering to the far post, where McCartney has snuck forward. Naughton does well to ease him out of it, as the expense of a corner.
27: GOAL WEST HAM! The Hammers lead! Noble's corner picks out Carroll at the far stick and his header back across goal flicks off Harry Kane's head and leaves Lloris helpless. That may have to go down as an own goal but Carroll will certainly claim it. That also proves to be the end of Kane's afternoon as Tim Sherwood elects to bring defender Vlad Chiriches on, sacrificing his striker. A minute to forget for the youngster.
26: Carroll blasts the dead ball and it's a great hit, but Lloris reacts brilliantly to tip over the bar. The crowd are up now!
24: Red card to Kaboul! Spurs are down to ten men and referee Phil Dowd had no option really. Downing beat Rose to a ball down the right and raced clear. Kaboul was trying to get back to him and Downing made sure his path crossed Kaboul's, and the Spurs' man's arm on the shoulder brings him down. One more touch and Downing would have shot from 18 yards so Kaboul had to go. Free kick now...
22: Spurs have their first corner after Noble pinches the ball off Adebayor's toes. Eriksen sends an outwsinger into the box, but it's a poor delivery and Nolan clears.
20: West Ham keep the play in the Tottenham half and Demel launches a cross from deep into the box. Carroll uses his height well to win the header, but with support around him not forthcoming, Spurs can work the ball clear.
18: We have our first booking of the afternoon and it goes Tottenham's way. Naughton can't have too many complaints about referee Phil Dowd's decision either as he was in late on Taylor.
17: The crowd gets excited as Carroll peels off round the back to knock across the area. Lloris can't really deal with it, but play is halted as an offside flag was up against the No9.
15: Spurs fashion their second on-target attempt as a cross comes in from the right and Paulinho heads for goal. He's a long way out though, and the save is more than comfortable for Adrian.
14: The visitors make tracks down the left again, as Eriksen makes a run inside before passing it back out to Sigurdsson on the flank. His low cross is directed towards the six-yard box, but Reid provides an effective barrier to knock his pass away.
12: Lloris looks to start an attack by sweeping a long pass out to the left hand side. Sigurdsson wins the header up against Demel and Kane is interested, but Reid tracks his run well to stick a leg out and poke the ball away from danger.
10: West Ham can be happy with how they've started this, and Diame tries to get away down the right but finds his path blocked by Naughton, who slides in well to tackle.
7: It has been an eventful start and after West Ham win a free-kick just outside the area in the left channel, Downing cuts back to Carroll, whose shot is deflected behind. Noble sends the corner in and Demel loops a shot towards goal, which bounces off the top of the crossbar before Lloris can gather.
5: Spurs then break quickly and dangerously, dragging West Ham out of position with some crisp and accurate passing. Adebayor appears on the edge of the box, but his attempt lacks power and it's an easy save for Adrian.
4: The Hammers win a corner and Downing's inswinging delivery is high and hanging. Carroll wins the header and Reid tries to swivel and force home, but the ball pops up nicely for Lloris to gather.
3: West Ham attack for the first time as Matt Taylor wins possession in midfield and passes to Andy Carroll. He spreads play wide to Downing, who waits for the overlapping Demel and feeds the ball to the right. Demel crosses, but Kaboul is there to cut it out.
1: Spurs concede possession early on as a Michael Dawson diagonal flies out of play. But as the Hammers work the ball ball back to Adrian, Harry Kane closes him down and almost embarrasses the Spaniard as he closes the clearance down but can only deflect the ball wide.
12.45pm We're off and underway at the Boleyn Ground. Come on you Irons!
12:42pm Both sets of players are now out on the pitch following a rousing chorus of Bubbles. The two skippers are going through the pre-match formalities as the Hammers aim to complete a famous hat-trick of victories over the north-Londoners.
12.35pm The teams have finished their warm-ups and kick-off is closing in, The crowd have been entertained by a marching band and the sun is beaming down. Let's hope the Hammers can end their home fixtures in style!
11.55am: Team news is in!
West Ham United: Adrian, Reid, McCartney, Nolan, Tomkins, Carroll, Taylor, Noble, Demel, Diame, Downing
Subs: Jarvis, Armero, Vaz Te, Collins, Jaaskelainen, C Cole, Nocerino
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris; Naughton, Dawson, Kaboul, Rose; Lennon, Paulinho, Sigurdsson, Eriksen; Adebayor, Kane
Subs: Friedel, Chiriches, Fryers, Bentaleb, Pritchard, Sandro, Soldado.
Good morning to you from the Boleyn Ground for our final home game of the season.
We welcome Tottenham Hotspur to E13 as we aim to complete an historic treble over the north Londoners. After winning 3-0 at White Hart Lane in the league thanks to goals from Winston Reid, Ricardo Vaz Te and Ravel Morrison, we then triumphed in N17 in the Capital One Cup, with Matt Jarvis and Modibo Maiga on target.
Spurs arrive at the Boleyn Ground having won three of their last four fixtures and they have their eyes on a UEFA Europa League spot.
Sam Allardyce will once again have to do without Marco Borriello as he continues to recover from a calf problem, while Tottenham are missing Andros Townsend (ankle). Kyle Walker is also a doubt wth a pelvic injury.