THE JOSE MOURINHO era at Spurs got off to a flying start away to West Ham this afternoon with a 3-2 win.
Son Heung-Min was at the heart of the Tottenham attack with a first-half goal and an assist for Lucas Moura. Harry Kane rounded off the scoring for the visitors in the second half and that proved to be the winner as the Irons pulled back two late goals.
Mauricio Pochettino’s former charges began the day in 14th place, but two superb first-half goals set them well on the way to joining Arsenal and Sheffield United on 17 points before the rest of the weekend action kicks off.
Dele Alli slipped Son into the left channel of the penalty area on 36 minutes and the South Korean expertly stood up Issa Diop, shaping to shoot with his right before drilling it beyond Roberto with his left.
Alli would break the game open with an outrageous pass in the minutes before half-time. The midfielder overstretched to control a ball on the left wing, slipped directly in front of the technical area and yet managed to flick the ball with his right heel while lying flat on his back.
Son tore onto the ball and ate up the ground before flashing a low cross along the six yard box and Moura slid Mourinho’s Tottenham into a 2-0 half-time lead.
The visitors did not let up after the restart and Son seemed to have set up Moura for a second, but the Brazilian opted to attempt a square pass rather than shot as he bore down on goal and the ball fell harmlessly between the two.
No matter for the smiling Mourinho, his side extended their lead minutes later thanks to a powerful downward header from Harry Kane off a searching Serge Aurier cross from the right.
Michail Antonio pulled one back for the hosts with a smart finish on 73 minutes.
And for 17 minutes that looked set to be nothing more than a consolation, but the Hammers were the side mounting pressure in the six minutes of injury time. Declan Rice had an 89th-minute tap-in chalked off by Var and the hosts pulled a second goal back through Angelo Ogbonna before the final whistle.
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