Three goals up and the camera panned along the front row of the directors’ box where Tottenham’s new regime looked on grim faced. Somebody might want to tell them this was a good day.
Three goals up at the home of London rivals, with Thomas Frank’s set-piece machine wreaking havoc on a West Ham side unable to match their physical presence or quality on the ball.
There have been seasons in recent memory when it gets little better than this for Spurs.
Back on the winning trail a fortnight after a dispiriting defeat at home against Bournemouth in what would prove to be the farewell game for chairman Daniel Levy.
The new order moved in and promised better days ahead and here they were, Vivienne Lewis, her son-in law Nick Beucher and chief executive Vinai Venketasham, all utterly inscrutable, and yet surely, deep inside, highly satisfied with what they had witnessed.
Pape Matar Sarr headed Spurs into the lead from a corner early in the second half and Lucas Bergvall made it two with another header, moments after West Ham had been reduced to 10 men, Tomas Soucek sent off for a studs-up tackle.
Tottenham triumphed 3-0 over London rivals West Ham thanks to a superb second-half display
Manchester City
Manchester United
*18+, excludes NI. Terms and conditions apply
Pape Matar Sarr opened the scoring for the visitors with the powerful header at the back post
Momentum shifted significantly after Tomas Soucek was sent off for a horror challenge
Micky van de Ven scored the third in the 64th minute. The London Stadium emptied at remarkable speed and West Ham goalkeeper Mads Hermansen made a fine save to prevent a goal by Mohammed Kudus on his return to the club he left in the summer.
It could hardly have gone much better for Tottenham head coach Frank before his new bosses. He didn’t even have to send on deadline day striker Randal Kolo Muani, who was an unused substitute.
Xavi Simons, a £51million signing from Leipzig, made his Spurs debut, playing wide on the left. His first positive impact came after 17 minutes, jinking inside and taking aim.
His effort was deflected wide and from the corner that follow the visitors had the ball in the net.
Kudus took it. You could tell by the noise. The Ghana international was jeered when the teams were announced and every time the ball came his way. Every successful tackle on him was cheered by the home crowd.
His corner on this occasion was headed in at the near post by Cristian Romero but referee Jarred Gillett was quick to blow for a foul. Van de Ven pushed Kyle Walker-Peters who had been marking Romero.
It might easily have been construed as nothing more than the usual pushing and shoving at any given set-play but VAR John Brooks backed Gillett’s call.
Tottenham are a serious threat from set-plays under Frank. For starters, they have players with towering presence and here a series of inswinging corners pinned West Ham ‘keeper Hermansen to his line.
Lucas Bergvall had an excellent game and put Tottenham two goals ahead with a smart header
Spurs enjoyed success in their first match since Daniel Levy’s exit as Tottenham chairman
There were eight in the first half alone, whipped into such a crowded goal area that it was difficult for defenders to climb and get the leverage required on any headed clearances. They ended the first half under siege from one set play after another.
Van de Ven claimed a penalty when Mateus Fernandes wrestled him to the floor. Van de Ven’s point must have been that if his push was a foul then so was this. The officials did not accept it.
Potter’s team made it to the sanctuary of the interval on level terms, which is a credit to their resilience under pressure, and yet they had carried a flicker of a threat on the break during the earlier phase of the contest.
Malick Diouf was effective whenever he tore forward, overlapping from left back and delivering teasing crosses on the run but West Ham, with Lucas Paqueta at centre forward and Niclas Fullkrug on the bench, did not look like getting anyone on the end of them.
Their best effort of the first half came in the 14th minute, a slick move down the left, started by Walker-Peters culminated in an interchange featuring Jarrod Bowen, Fernandes and Paqueta who dragged a low shot wide on the turn.
But Spurs took control and two minutes into the second half took the lead and ran away with it. Not surprisingly the opener came from a corner, their ninth of the game.
This time taken by Simon and swung in deep with his right foot. Sarr appeared unmarked beyond the far post and headed it in, his first of the season for Spurs after two for Senegal during the international break.
There was an instant reaction by West Ham. Bowen forced Guglielmo Vicario into his first save of the game but the task suddenly became far more difficult when Soucek was sent off.
Spurs defender Micky van de Ven sealed the win with a well-taken goal inside the penalty area
Graham Potter’s side slipped into the Premier League’s relegation zone following the defeat
It was a straight red. Brandished for a studs-up tackle in midfield on Palhinha. Soucek tried to control a ball but it spilled away from him. Palhinha nipped in and won possession and was cut off around the shins.
The big Czech had barely disappeared from view when the 10 men left behind conceded again. Spurs passed the free-kick short and worked it along the back line to Romero, who clipped a pass forward.
Bergvall darted behind West Ham’s centre halves and looped a header over Hermansen.
Van de Ven poked in the third, which was the cue for thousands of home fans to head for the exits and for the those in the away end to start the ‘oles’ and songs about fire drills and libraries.
If this is life after Levy they are going to enjoy it.
