London: Tottenham Hotspur endured a night of frustration against London rivals West Ham United here Thursday, but were spared a shock defeat as Son Heung-min salvaged a 1-1 draw with a stunning late equaliser at the Wembley.
Good as Son’s long-range swerving effort seven minutes from time was, it was still only the second best goal of the night after Pedro Obiang’s 70th-minute screamer put West Ham within sight of a smash-and-grab raid.
Tottenham spent all night trying to pick a way through the claret and blue barricade in front of them. They ended the contest with 31 attempts to West Ham’s three but were staring a costly defeat in the face when Obiang scored with the visitors’ first attempt on goal.
On a rare foray forward the midfielder found himself in space and belted a right-foot shoot that left Spurs keeper clawing at thin air as the ball whistled into the top corner.
Tottenham poured forward in a desperate search to salvage something and Son delivered when he lashed a 25-metre effort past Adrian to finally puncture West Ham’s resistance.
“Today (Thursday) we had 31 attempts and we needed an amazing goal from Son (to get a point),” Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino told reporters. “But that is football. We deserved the three points but we have to be happy because when you concede a goal to their first chance it can complicated. We had to keep calm.”
West Ham manager David Moyes said he was left in ‘disbelief’ when Obiang produced his scorcher that looked likely to give his side a vital victory in their battle to pull clear of danger.
“I’m thrilled to come away with a point, Spurs have some really exciting young talent, I have seen them beat Real Madrid here, beat teams by four or five,” Moyes said.
The draw left Tottenham in fifth place, three points behind Liverpool in the battle for Champions League qualification.
Reuters