Opinion: Said Benrahma was the pick of the bunch in damaging EPL defeat

West Ham suffered a damaging defeat in the race for the Premier League top four at the hands of London rivals Tottenham.

The Hammers were off the pace from the outset as their north London hosts prevailed 3-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

An own goal from Kurt Zouma broke the deadlock before Son Heung-min netted twice either side of a strike from Said Benrahma.

Goal aside, the 26-year-old Algerian was the standout performer for the Irons on a difficult afternoon for David Moyes’ side.

Saïd Benrahma’s game by numbers vs. Tottenham Hotspur:

100% passing accuracy
32 total touches
9 final third passes attempted
9 final third passes completed
2/5 take-ons completed
2 fouls won
1 goal

Bright performance. 🇩🇿 pic.twitter.com/aGJx0QDZM0

— Dan Woffenden (@danwoff98) March 20, 2022

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Benrahma earned a 7.30 Sofascore rating for a display that caught the eye amidst an otherwise dismal display.

Here’s how we rated the remaining West Ham players…

READ WEST HAM VERDICT

XI: Lukasz Fabianski 7, Ben Johnson 6, Kurt Zouma 3, Craig Dawson 5, Aaron Cresswell 6; Arthur Masuaku 4, Declan Rice 6, Tomas Soucek 6; Manuel Lanzini 5, Said Benrahma 8; Michail Antonio 4.

Subs: Andriy Yarmolenko 6, Pablo Fornals 6, Nikola Vlasic NA.

Whilst this was from far a vintage display in the second Moyes era, both Kurt Zouma and Arthur Masuaku were miles below par here.

Zouma didn’t win a single duel either aerially or on the ground 0/6 (Sofascore), underpinning what was truly a woeful defensive performance from the Frenchman.