West Brom topple Spurs for first win

West Bromwich Albion stunned Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane yesterday by getting their first win of the season and their first goal since the opening day.

Albion arrived in north London at the bottom of the Premier League table but climbed out of the relegation zone after James Morrison headed home a second-half Chris Brunt corner, leaving Spurs without a win in their last four fixtures.

Despite dominating possession, Spurs were desperately lucky to end the first half on level terms. Mauricio Pochettino’s decision to play Vlad Chiriches ahead of substitute Jan Vertonghen looked an odd one before the whistle and early suspicions were confirmed as the centre-back put in a sloppy display that looked like a blend of deficient technique and a nervous disposition.

Hugo Lloris might have been confident of having a quiet afternoon with the way his side was retaining the ball but when he was called into action on 14 minutes he could not be faulted. Craig Gardner was teed up around 24 yards from goal and unleashed a rasping daisy-cutter of a shot that the French keeper punched to safety.

The focus would have been back on Lloris moments later had referee Kevin Friend seen Emmanuel Adebayor handle the ball after a Morrison corner was flicked on by Craig Dawson and hit the Spurs striker on the hand. Despite West Brom’s instinctive appeals for a spot-kick, Tottenham escaped punishment.

An even more nail-biting escape act was pulled-off by Tottenham nine minutes before the break. Saido Berahino controlled a cross on his chest and prodded the ball past Lloris but, to the delight of the temporarily traumatised home fans, an offside flag was rightly raised to rule out the opener.

Spurs should have enjoyed their 15-minute interval with the lead but Adebayor fluffed his best chance of the game seconds before half-time. Christian Eriksen slalomed down the left flank and, after having two crosses blocked, his third effort was a precisely chipped pass across the front of the goal that invited Adebayor to head home from a couple of yards only for the ball to arc away and graze his nose on the way to safety.

Once the hour mark arrived, Pochettino changed personnel and formation to try to take maximum points after having to settle for draws in their last two outings. The Argentine has never managed a side to victory having gone behind in a Premier League match so the onus was weighing heavily on his side to break the deadlock.

But he admitted after the match that the damage had already been done after a poor start and he struggled to express himself, much like his attacking players.

“The beginning of the game was wrong,” he said. “We were very slow, we moved the ball very slow, there was a slow tempo. In football, you need to play quick.

“The way that we played, I think was wrong because we played very, very slow from the beginning. I am angry or disappointed — I don’t know the best word to show my feelings. We had a bad day, I am very disappointed because we had a very bad day, we played very slowly. It should have ended in a draw.”

The game might have ended in a draw after Roberto Soldado and Brazilian Paulinho were sent on to try to convert the almost superfluous possession into a goal and the Spanish striker almost rewarded his manager for his gamble immediately. Younes Kaboul whipped in a cross from the right that Soldado connected with sweetly but his first-time effort went straight in to the grateful arms of West Brom keeper Ben Foster.

West Brom then stuck the knife in through an unlikely goal. Brunt swung in a corner with his left boot and Morrison, one of the smallest players on the pitch, shook off the half-hearted marking from Erik Lamela and nodded home before wheeling off and celebrating with embarrassment at the fact he had scored with his head.

At the final whistle, Tottenham had racked up an undoubtedly impressive 63% of the possession but they went home with zero reward which impressed no one, especially their fans, who West Brom manager Alan Irvine sensed were unhappy.

“I think there was a moment in the middle of the first-half when the atmosphere and mood changed in the ground because we had a sustained period of pressure and that can spread around the ground,” he said.

“We’ve experienced that at home; fans respond to what they see but I wouldn’t be critical of the Tottenham fans because they are good fans.”

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR: Lloris 7: Dier 7, Kaboul 7 , Chiriches 5, Rose 5: Capoue 5 (Lennon 76, 5), Dembele 7 (Paulinho 61, 5): Chadli 5 (Soldado 61, 6), Lamela 5, Eriksen 7: Adebayor 5.

WEST BROM: Foster 8, Wisdom 6, Dawson 7, Lescott 8, Pocognoli 7, Gardner 7, Morrison 8, Dorrans 7, Sessegnon 7 (Anichebe 90), Brunt 7, Berahino 8.

Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire)