I mean, who on earth saw this performance coming?
After the dismal outing against Brighton last weekend, many fans were calling for Slaven Bilic’s head as the players were seemingly not playing for him and he was unable to generate a performance from them.
At half-time at Wembley last night, it looked as if those concerns were genuine as a hapless Hammers side were 2-0 at the break against Tottenham who were barely into second gear.
We may never knew what Slaven told his team in the interval but it sparked an incredible and unfathomable comeback.
Andre Ayew, who was arguably the worst player on the pitch in the first 45, burst into life after the break and pulled the Hammers back into the tie with a close-range tap-in after Michel Vorm parried away Edimilson Fernandes’ driven effort.
West Ham, buoyed with confidence, showed levels of endeavour and graft that we haven’t seen all season and their pressure was rewarded again when a shell-shocked Spurs defence failed to clear the ball and Manuel Lanzini latched onto an Andy Carroll knockdown and managed to turn the ball back into the path of Ayew whose high finish had Vorm well beaten, and suddenly it was all square.
Firmly in the ascendancy, the Hammers kept pressing for the lead and found it when Angelo Ogbonna escaped Toby Alderweireld to head home from a Lanzini corner to send the 4,800 travelling Hammers fans into raptures.
The last 20 or so minutes saw West Ham defend for their lives and dig in deep but Tottenham didn’t have the craft or guile to create an opening.
West Ham book their place in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup with a performance that might’ve kept Slaven Bilic in a job. Here are our player ratings.
