Upon the return of Premier League football this weekend, West Ham United were handed a huge blow after a damming destruction at the hands of London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Despite a good first-half showing, with the Hammers taking the lead thanks to a sublime finish from star man Mohammed Kudus, they were left stunned as Spurs came back in the second half to win 4-1 and take revenge for last season’s loss at the Tottenham Stadium.
Individual error after individual error clouded what was an exciting first half for Julen Lopetegui’s team as Alphonse Areola conceded an own-goal and Kudus saw a straight red card for unneeded violent conduct just ten minutes from the final whistle.
However, there were sparks of brilliance throughout the game, including an impressive defensive performance from summer signing Guido Rodriguez. While the 30-year-old seemed overwhelmed in the second half, we saw what he could do in the first.
Guido is a shining light
As expected, Spurs dominated the possession throughout the game and packed on pressure from the first whistle. Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski, and James Maddison looked dangerous throughout the first half but were kept quiet thanks to a stellar defensive display.
One player who shined was Rodriguez, who found himself all over the park, mopping up loose balls and making impressive tackles to frustrate Spurs.
The Argentine had success with five tackles from seven attempted, three clearances, one blocked shot, and one interception and was only dribbled past once over the entire 90 minutes.
He also looked impressive on the ball with 43 touches, 22/29 (76%) passes completed and six long balls completed, finishing the game with a 7.1 rating from Sofascore.
While we may feel dejected by the result, that first-half performance from Rodriguez, and the rest of the team has shown us that we can go toe to toe with Champions League-level teams.
There is still plenty of the season left and seeing the fight from the boys gives me hope we can still find form and push for Europe.