By Sam Tonks
West Ham were knocked out of the Carabao Cup following a 3-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at London Stadium.
A goal either side of half-time from Heun-Min Son put Spurs in the driving seat until Lucas Perez pulled one back, however Fernando Llorente's strike sealed Spurs' passage to the quarter-finals.
A minute’s silence preceded the action, in memory of those who lost their lives in Leicester at the weekend as David Gold, Tony Cottee and Ledley King laid wreaths on the pitch, showing football in unity.
Then the action followed and the tension of a local-derby was apparent at London Stadium.
20-year-old Grady Diangana made everyone aware of his talent in the previous round demolition of Macclesfield Town, this was his second start in three games and he seemed eager to continue shining.
A direct runner and brilliant eye for a pass, he was getting the crowd off their seats with some magic on Halloween night. On 13 minutes, he glided in from the right and picked out Chicarito in the penalty area, but his attempt to find Michail Antonio was intercepted by Davinson Sanchez.
The visitors had left Harry Kane out of the squad but still had firepower to fear in attack. In the 17th minute, one of them made the breakthrough. Christian Eriksen cut out Angelo Ogbonna’s pass and, via a deflection, found Son who ruthlessly found the top corner.
The Hammers had to re-build their momentum after a strike against the run of play, but they resumed control and created good openings in the first half.
Artur Masuaku sent a ball down the left wing for Michail Antonio to chase, he held off Kyle Walker-Peters but was denied by Paulo Gazzaniga at his near post.
Diangana was a constant menace and proved why Manuel Pellegrini has high hopes for the attacking midfielder. He set up two great chances before half-time, first, he sent over a free-kick which Chicarito controlled at the back-post, but couldn’t shoot at goal in time.
At the next set-piece he picked out Masuaku down the left, but his cross couldn’t be converted by Chicarito who was foiled by Gazzaniga again.
The second half saw Robert Snodgrass replace Felipe Anderson, yet it didn’t begin in ideal fashion for Pellegrini’s men as Son kept up a clinical streak in front of goal. Profiting from a ricochet off Masuaku, he raced through, rounded Adrian and doubled Spurs’ lead.
This didn’t deter the West Ham pressure as Pellegrini reacted with a double substitution, on went Marko Arnautovic and former Arsenal forward Lucas Perez. This rallied the team and the crowd with extra-attacking impetus on the field.
Spurs’ own academy star Juan Foyth incredibly managed to clear over his own crossbar from six yards out, whilst Gazzaniga kept Angelo Ogbonna out on the hour mark with a smart reflex stop.
But, on 72 minutes he was beaten by the ex-Arsenal man. Perez cleverly headed a Snodgrass corner into the ground and over the Argentinian keeper, the manager’s replacements restoring hope.
The one goal deficit only lasted six minutes, Fernando Llorente neatly hooking the ball past Adrian from Eriksen’s delivery as West Ham were left with more work to do in not as much time.
It was a night where West Ham deserved more but were beaten by a clinical Spurs side, Burnley are next to visit London Stadium this Saturday.
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