Ravel Morrison scored a superb solo goal as West
Ham earned a vital win against Tottenham to
climb out of the Premier League's bottom three.
Winston Reid's close-range effort just after the hour
gave the Hammers a first away goal of the season.
A ricochet off Ricardo Vaz Te doubled the lead before
Morrison ran the length of the Spurs half to chip in.
Tottenham's best chances fell to Jermain Defoe but he
was denied by West Ham goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.
West Ham's first away win in nine Premier League
games was their first at White Hart Lane since 1999
and lifts them to 13th in the table. Meanwhile, Spurs'
second defeat of the season ended a six-game unbeaten
run and sees them drop to sixth.
It was more of a surprise given that Andre Villas-Boas's
side had the joint-tightest defence in the league, having
conceded only twice before this encounter.
But the day arguably belonged to Morrison, 20, who
capped a confident and hard-working display with a
goal that underlined a talent that many observers have
spoken of in glowing terms.
The former Manchester United player was called into
the England Under-21 squad last week and this
performance showed that the youngster could perhaps
now turn the corner after having questions asked of his
temperament.
Before Morrison's move to East London in January
2012, then United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said: "He's got
a great talent but it's how to deal with it that is
important."
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce took the unusual step of
naming no recognised strikers in his side, as Morrison
rotated with Mohamed Diame as the furthest player
forward but it proved a masterstroke.
Morrison was the visitors' most potent player in the
first half and they almost took the lead when he was
tripped near the edge of the box.
Rather than take a shot, Mark Noble enterprisingly
scooped the ball over the wall and Kevin Nolan
volleyed just wide from an angle.
At the other end, Andros Townsend gave watching
England manager Roy Hodgson something to think
about ahead of the World Cup qualifiers with another
performance of direct running and confident dribbling.
But, despite several decent crosses from the right,
Defoe could not make contact on his first Premier
League start of the season.
Despite their tight defence, Villas-Boas's side have only
scored six goals in six games prior to this match and
their frustrations in front of goal continued after the
break when Jaaskelainen twice thwarted Defoe.
James Tomkins had a header well saved by Hugo Lloris
from a corner, yet it was Tottenham who began to
show the greater purpose and Reid's opener on 66
minutes came against the run of play.
Reid expertly headed Stewart Downing's corner
towards goal only for it to be blocked by Nolan on the
line. The ball bounced back to the Kiwi and he made no
mistake with the rebound.
Vaz Te added a fortunate second soon after. The
Portuguese was found by Noble and his tame shot hit
Loris before bouncing back to him and in off his knee.
There was nothing lucky about Morrison's goal, though.
He collected Diame's clever flick and ran with the ball
before taking on Michael Dawson and signalling his
talent with a wonderfully composed finish.
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