Premier League

WEST HAM 1 (Bowen 28)
TOTTENHAM 1 (Odobert 14)

NO one was injured, and Tottenham are still not the very worst London club. That’s the takeaway from this hard fought derby at West Ham’s London Stadium.

Spurs took a deserved lead through WIlson Odobert on 14 minutes, only to concede courtesy of a Jarrod Bowen effort before the half-hour mark.

Both sides gently rolled to a stop in the second half, Spurs not wanting to expend too much energy with one eye on Thursday night’s Europa League semi-final second leg, and West Ham simply not possessing the wit to make the most of Tottenham’s tepid approach.

It was very much a case of the men in white keeping their eyes on the prize.

Ange Postecoglou gave his benchwarmers starts with the combined aim of keeping the seniors injury-free and keeping his subs up to speed.

And then there are some playing for their futures: longest-server Ben Davies will be half wondering if each solid performance like the one he put in at the London Stadium is a shop window for his next move.

As for West Ham, this season has been even worse, though less surprisingly so, than Spurs.

Their lack of style was evident. For all of their honest effort, they didn’t appear to have a formula to follow. Graham Potters’ West Ham have tactics that appear to be a case of kick the ball towards another player in claret and blue and then see what happens next. Attacks tend to stumble into the opponent’s box by accident rather than design.

Spurs, in contrast, very much have a gameplay no matter who is in the starting XI: Angeball has only one way to play, and with a second string it can be predictable, sticky and congested.

Speaking afterwards, Postecoglou said: “I am proud of the players’ efforts. It’s not easy making so many changes and it’s going to affect fluency and the rhythm of the team.”

The Tottenham boss said the players had dealt with West Ham’s gung-ho, added-derby-oomph, well.

He added: “The effort they put in was outstanding. They were really disciplined and organised. I thought we nullified their threat as well as we could and they had some decent firepower up front.

“I still thought we were dangerous going the other way. I’m glad the boys got some reward. It’s obviously not a win, but they get some reward for their efforts because I thought on a difficult day they handled themselves really well.”

It was a first half to forget. Even the usual derby atmosphere, which adds a smidgen of urgency, was missing. Both sides were full of scuffling attacks and hard running, ready to break sweat but without the application required at this level.

And both goals, though well-taken, would surely not have been scored against a half-decent defence.

On 14 minutes, Mathys Tel scuffed possession off two inadequate attempts at clearances by West Ham defender Max Kilman. Tel squirted the ball across and Odobert had to simply find a space either side of Alphonse Areola to finish.

Spurs looked good for their lead and a second was not out of the question, if the front three could just get their feet right on a couple of occasions.

But Hammers’ skipper Bowen showed what leadership looks like with a performance that suggested he would drag his teammates, kicking and screaming, into derby mode.

On 28, he seized on the chance to attack the six-yard box. Davies lacked the turn of pace to get close enough to make an impression and Guglielmo Vicario was beaten at his near post, Bowen given a clear space to slip the ball home between the keeper’s legs.

Spurs conjured up one other attack of note in the first 45: Richarlison’s movement took him onto a through ball in the right-hand channel. He controlled it, looked up and squared – but Odobert was two-yards off from attacking the vital space at the back post and the dangerous ball lacked that finishing touch.

At the other end, Vicario did not have much to worry about apart from a Bowen cross that was goal-bound until he saw it late on.

The best news is that Spurs go unscathed for Thursday’s Europa League semi final second leg.

West Ham: Areola, Wan-Bissaka, Todibo (Coufal 79), Kilman, Cresswell (Mavropanos 87), Emerson, Soucek (Soler 79), Paqueta (Ward-Prowse 79), Kudus, Fullkrug (Ferguson 79), Bowen
Subs not used: Fabianski,, Coufal, Ward-Prowse,, Guilherme, Ings, Rodriguez, Ferguson

Tottenham: Vicario, Gray, Danso, Davies, Spence, Sarr, Bissouma, Kulusevski, Richarlison (Moore 66), Tel, Odobert
Subs not used: Kinsky, Pedro Porro, Udogie, Romero, Van de Ven, Bentancur, Ajayi, Moore, Johnson.