Harry Kane's 96th-minute strike rescued a point for Tottenham Hotspur this afternoon as they came from two goals down to draw 2-2 against West Ham United at White Hart Lane.
The visitors took the lead midway through the first period courtesy of a thumping Cheikhou Kouyate header, while Diafra Sakho squeezed in a second shortly after the hour mark.
Danny Rose pulled one back for the hosts with 10 minutes remaining, and Kane completed the late comeback deep into stoppage time, sweeping home a rebound after seeing his penalty saved.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at a dramatic London derby.
Match statistics
TOTTENHAM
Shots: 27
On target: 8
Possession: 65%
Corners: 7
Fouls: 6
WEST HAM
Shots: 12
On target: 5
Possession: 35%
Corners: 9
Fouls: 12
Was the result fair?
By looking at the statistics above, it would be easy to assume that Tottenham dominated this match and were unfortunate to only come away with a draw, despite the late nature of their comeback. However, the stats are very misleading, with West Ham putting in a fine performance and coming so close to doing a proper away job on their fierce rivals.
Tottenham did enjoy the lion's share of possession throughout, but West Ham were happy to allow them that. The Hammers coped with their attacks for the vast majority of the game, but the pressure began to build after Rose's goal and it eventually told. Spurs had one or two moments before that but, in the second half especially, rarely looked like scoring. West Ham, on the other hand, could have been 4-0 up at one point but for some crucial saves by Hugo Lloris.
The 27 shots for the hosts is misleading, with most of them coming from range and seldom troubling Adrian. Mauricio Pochettino will undoubtedly feel that his side were worthy of a point, if only due to the one-sided nature of the stats, but it will be a tough pill to swallow for West Ham. A point apiece is not the most unjust result, but the visitors probably should have just edged it.
Tottenham's performance
Spurs are in the midst of a very congested run of fixtures, and already that was beginning to tell in today's performance. They have played more matches than any other Premier League team this season and looked sluggish and laboured at times, despite making a number of changes to the side that played against Fiorentina in the Europa League on Thursday. The tempo and intensity, both on and off the ball, that has been a feature of Spurs's success recently was lacking all too often this afternoon.
Kane and Rose both came close in the first half, but they largely struggled to make any headway against a stubborn West Ham defensive effort. They lacked the guile and creativity of Christian Eriksen in the first half, but, even when the Dane was introduced at half time, they could not find a way through. It took a fortuitous Rose strike to hand them a route back into the match, and then a clumsy challenge from Alex Song to concede the late penalty.
With Manchester United losing yesterday and Southampton taking on Liverpool later today, this was a real chance for Spurs to steal a march on their rivals in the race for the top four. They failed to do that, but Pochettino will at least be happy that his side picked up points when not playing well. They have now recovered 16 points from losing positions this season and 13 points from goals in the final five minutes of matches, which is testament to both their character and fitness. With a key week coming up, this late comeback could prove vital to the spirit among the camp.
West Ham's performance
This will have been among the most gutting results for Sam Allardyce during his time at the club. Having lost to a 93rd-minute winner in the reverse fixture, his side squandered a two-goal lead in the final 10 minutes this afternoon, despite looking very comfortable up until Rose's strike. It looked for a long time like being a textbook away performance, soaking up possession and keeping tight at the back before hitting Spurs down the flanks.
The visitors may have seen much less of the ball, but they rarely looked in any trouble before that final 10 minutes. The midfield trio of Kouyate, Song and Mark Noble dominated proceedings, and the latter's substitution to avoid being sent off was perhaps a key reason why the Hammers could not hold on. Sakho and Enner Valencia ran all day up top, while defensively they barely gave Kane a sniff. For 80 minutes, it was a really good team performance.
However, they failed to pick up all three points due to a lucky goal, which Adrian perhaps should have done better with, and a clumsy challenge from Song inside the box. Even then, there was an element of luck about the second goal, with Adrian making a good stop from the penalty, only to see the rebound fall straight back to Kane. Allardyce will be pleased with this performance, but frustrated at the fact that his side have not come away with the win.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Cheikhou Kouyate: There were a number of good individual performances from the men in claret and blue, but it was in midfield where they really shone. Song eliminated himself from contention by conceding the late penalty, so the award goes to Kouyate, who took his goal really well and put in an impressive all-round display.
Biggest gaffe
Adrian deserves a mention here having been deceived by the bounce of the ball from Rose's mishit volley, but this award goes to Song. With just seconds left, the midfielder bundled into the back of Kane inside the box and, while the contact was minimal, the Tottenham striker was always going to go down with the slightest of touches. It was clumsy and thoughtless play from Song, who should know better than to go in from the wrong side in such a situation.
Referee performance
Jonathan Moss kept his cards in his pocket whenever possible today, with the exception of two harsh ones for shirt tugs. It was good to see him limit the cards in a London derby, but he was fairly inconsistent with his decisions and probably should have sent Noble off for a second bookable offence in the second half.
What next?
Tottenham: A huge week awaits Tottenham, with the second leg of their Europa League last-32 tie away at Fiorentina on Thursday and the League Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley three days later.
West Ham: The Hammers face the second of four consecutive London derbies when they host Crystal Palace next Saturday lunchtime.
Barney Corkhill
