Tottenham Smash West Ham 3–0 in Derby Rout to Go Second

This London Derby between Tottenham and West Ham was one with special significance. It was the first time that Spurs had played without Daniel Levy as chairman in 24 years.

However, from minute one, all the talk of leadership seemed to be a distant memory. Thomas Frank’s side didn’t put a foot wrong in the first half; all that was stopping Spurs was a mix of questionable refereeing and VAR shambles. 

A goal was disallowed by the referee, and the dreadful decision was backed up by a VAR check. It was extremely harsh. The header from Cristian Romero was denied due to Micky van de Ven lightly pushing ex-Spurs first-team and academy player Kyle Walker-Peters. 

Injured James Maddison tweeted:

"Honestly the referees & VAR have had an absolute shocker of a start to the season. If that goal is disallowed for a foul you will never ever see a corner be taken without the referee blowing for something ever again"

Unfortunately for the home side, this wasn’t the last time Tottenham would mount a deadly attack. The game exploded into life in the first 20 minutes of the second half, starting with Pape Sarr’s goal in the 47th minute. 

Sarr's first goal of the 25-26 season. He has started the season with strong performances

Tottenham remained sharp after taking the lead, and it wasn’t long until a desperate challenge from Tomáš Souček on Paulinho resulted in a straight red card with little complaint. 

Tottenham doubled their lead three minutes later, this time from Lucas Bergvall, and by the 64th minute, Spurs were 3-0 up after another clinical finish from Micky van de Ven. It was a disastrous return from the break for West Ham.

White seats began to appear, the Hammers were heading for the exit, and Tottenham's job in Stratford was all but done.

Mohammed Kudus was desperate to score on his return to the London Stadium after being welcomed back with boos. He came so close in the dying embers, but he squandered a one-on-one and was visibly frustrated.

The final whistle then blew, and while West Ham’s woeful start to the season only gets worse, Tottenham climbed to second in the Premier League, joining arch-rivals Arsenal on nine points after the first four games, only behind on goal difference.