Sick chants mar Defoe’s double blast

Tottenham 3 West Ham 1

Because, ultimately, there was one massive blemish on an otherwise brilliant game for Spurs — a series of disgraceful chants from the away crowd which were either anti-semitic or concerning the violence that Tottenham experienced in Rome on Thursday.

Unfortunately, it all only adds to a season in which off-pitch events have generally taken the attention away from the football. At the least, the football that was on show here from Spurs was quite impressive. It has taken them a while to produce it though.

Because, ultimately, it says much about this odd season that, despite a first win in four games and just a second in six, Tottenham are now level on points with Arsenal again and just four points off the Champions League places.

“It was a very good performance,” manager Andre Villas-Boas said. “We have been chasing it for some time, a good solid 90-minute performance and we got it today.’’

In the game itself, it was a Jermain Defoe thunderbolt that initially put Spurs ahead and completely changed the dynamics of the game. Up to then, neither side was exactly firing. With both managers generally quite locked into rigid systems, it made for a very mechanical opening 44 minutes in which the only moment of note was Gareth Bale crashing a shot off the bar.

Then, however, the excellent Defoe ensured Tottenham got a turbo charge just before half-time. Picking the ball up from deep, he burst through the West Ham defence before unleashing a fine shot past Jussi Jasskelainen.

“It unlocked the game,” Villas-Boas correctly agreed.

Allardyce concurred. “I don’t think we recovered from it to be honest.”

Certainly, from that point on, Tottenham further exposed and capitalised on every West Ham flaw.

Within 13 minutes of the second half, Clint Dempsey had expertly chipped over for Gareth Bale to poke the ball past Jaaskelainen. Shortly after, Spurs then pretty much summed up the entire game as Aaron Lennon leapt on a loose ball, charged towards goal before squaring for Defoe to finish.

Spurs were supreme, West Ham all too submissive. Afterwards, Allardyce said he couldn’t defend his players.

“We were a bit overawed and I don’t know why. Tottenham have lost three of the last four so they’re hardly in form, are they? We’ve made it easy for Tottenham to win today and that’s disappointing for me. We haven’t been anywhere near our best. I didn’t expect that today. It shocked me, to be honest.”

The sole positive for West Ham was Andy Carroll finally getting his first goal for the club, heading home from Joey O’Brien’s cross.

“It shows the rest of my players the type of service we’ve got to give him,” Allardyce said.

The cheers that greeted the goal, though, only interrupted what was 90 minutes of horrific chanting from the away fans. Throughout the game, Spurs’ famous Jewish connections were targeted as the West Ham crowd made hissing sounds referencing concentration camps and sang about ‘Adolf Hitler coming for you’. After the stabbing of a Spurs fan in Rome ahead of the Europa League game with Lazio on Thursday, there were also chants supporting the Italian club and one which simply involved the words “Can we stab you every week?”

Both managers, however, were reluctant to say too much in the immediate aftermath.

“I didn’t hear it,” Allardyce insisted. “I don’t hear what the fans say or do when I’m a manager concentrating on the game of football. They shouldn’t be doing that, but it’s the least of my worries at the moment. Hitler? I never heard it. If I didn’t hear it, I can’t comment.”

Villas-Boas struck much the same note. “It’s difficult. You can interpret [it] in various ways. I prefer not to mar the performance with songs like this.”

Unfortunately, though, that may be out of his control.

TOTTENHAM: Lloris; Walker, Dawson, Caulker, Vertonghen; Lennon (Dembele 79), Sandro (Livermore 86), Dempsey, Huddlestone, Bale; Defoe (Sigurdsson 90).

WEST HAM UNITED: Jaaskelainen; O’Brien, Reid, Tomkins, McCartney; O’Neil (Taylor 55), Diame, Nolan (Cole 69), Noble, Maiga (Jarvis 32); Carroll.

Referee: Chris Foy.