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In what was a perfect start for new manager Jose Mourinho to his life in the dugout for Tottenham Hotspur, his team recorded a close 3-2 win over local rivals West ham United in their Premier League fixture at the London Stadium.
The visitors looked dangerous from the get-go and reaped the benefit of their offensive mindset in the first-half with Son Heung-Min breaking the deadlock in the 36th minute following a brilliant through ball by Dele Alli.
They doubled their lead within seven minutes, with Son and Alli yet again involved in the buildup as Lucas Moura finished off the brilliant move by connecting with Son's perfectly-timed cross.
Spurs started the second half even better, with striker Harry Kane heading home a cross from right-back Serge Aurier just four minutes into the half.
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Though it seemed the game was done for the home side, introduction of influential forward Michel Antonio in place of Felipe Anderson had a positive impact as he hit the ground running causing all sorts of problem for the Tottenham defence and finally getting a breakthrough in the 73rd minute, unleashing a fierce strike after a brilliant feint to deceive Alderweireld.
VAR again played a decisive role in the match denying The Hammers their second goal and they had to settle with a scoreline of 3-2 against their favour when defender Ogbonna found the back of the net in the dying moments of the game.
To sum it up the first half belonged to the visitors and the home team made a roaring comeback in the second one, but just fell short of scoring that equalizer. So, as Mourinho marked his return to the Premier League with a win, we look at the five major takeaways from the game.
1. Son Heung-min is now the most important player in Tottenham's squad
Though he did not have the ideal start to his life at Tottenham, Son-Heung Min has now become one of the most important players for Spurs and a guaranteed starter for the club.
He was as effective as usual starting on the left flank with his pace and link-up play with his teammates, especially with Alli particularly troubling the West Ham defence.
He was crucial to the team's first two goals, scoring the first one and providing the assist for the second one. His electrifying pace, quick thinking with the ball and passing prowess make him an invaluable asset for the new manager as well, who has a penchant for employing the wingers for creating the chances in the final third.
As seen in the first half, Alli and Son seem to have good chemistry, which Mourinho can use to wreak havoc for opposition defences. Going forward, Son will be the key for Mourinho's men if they are to stay in the upper echelons of the league.
2. West Ham have an error-prone defence
West Ham United's defence was in shambles in the first half. Right from the start, the goalkeeper Roberto, who had conceded 6 goals in the previous two fixtures looked shaky between the sticks and almost led to the opening goal in the 11th minute.
Following Harry Wink's free-kick the Spaniard came off his line to claim the ball, but completely missed it and was saved only thanks to Davinson Sanchez's poor connection with the ball.
Dodgy goalkeeping apart, the back four also didn't do any favours to the manager as they seemed too slow to react to the forward passes directed towards Son and Kane. Also, the defenders didn't take responsibility for closing down on their man, leaving the opposition attackers with plenty of space to get an additional touch or two and move the ball to dangerous areas.
The biggest flaw in the defensive plan of the hosts was the tendency of the back-line to maintain a straight line at all times. The players did not want to break the line and make a forward tackle. This allowed Son to time his run perfectly and opening the scoring in the game.
The second goal by Lucas Moura could've been saved, only if left-back Aaron Cresswell had tracked the movement of the Brazilian rather than focussing on maintaining the high-line.
3. VAR continues to influence results in the Premier League
Since its introduction to the Premier League, VAR has proved to be highly controversial. On multiple occasions, the VAR decisions have had a decisive effect on the outcome of the game and this meeting between two London rivals also saw a goal overturned by the technology, that could've very well resulted in the two teams sharing points at the end of the 90 minutes.
In the second half, West Ham were clearly the better side and even after conceding a third goal early in the half, were pushing for a breakthrough. After they pulled one goal back through Michail Antonio, they continued to pressure the Tottenham defence and finally seemed to have gotten their second goal in the 89th minute through a Declan Rice goal.
But, after confirming with VAR, the goal was overturned as it showed the England midfielder to be offside. The hosts went on the eventually get the second goal when Ogbonna poked in a shot from a corner in added time but it was too little too late as it proved to be one of the last touches of the game.
If not for VAR West Ham could've avoided a third-straight defeat, but The Hammer's loss proved to be Tottenham's gain and they went home with three points from the game.
4. Spurs' defence is yet to look convincing
Tottenham had a flying start to the game. By the half-time whistle, they were 2-0 up and in the 49th minute Harry Kane scored the third goal of the match to increase their lead to three goals.
So, in the first half, the visitors' defence didn't have much to do, apart from the routine passing and clearances. It was in the final 45 minutes that they felt the pressure. Having been wasteful in the first half, the West Ham attack started finally getting things right and looked dangerous, especially after the addition of Antonio in the break.
Finally, the home side had a breakthrough in the 73rd minute, thanks to a clever strike, which can be attributed more to Antonio's brilliant than Tottenham's defensive errors.
They conceded yet again in the 89th minute, as midfielder Rice seemed to have found the back of the net, but VAR proved to be their saviour and the goal was disallowed. Six minutes later, in the last minute of the injury time,hey would concede again, as defender Angelo Ogbonna headed home from a corner.
If not for VAR, the poor defending would've cost them the three points. Getting things straightened out in the defence needs to be on top priority for Mourinho, given how close they came to squandering a three-goal lead in the final 30 minutes of the game.
5. Jose Mourinho employed a familiar tactic to get the desired result
In his first match in charge, the former Manchester United and Chelsea manager played it safe and used his tried and tested 4-2-3-1 system for the side he fielded in tonight's fixture.
Though the team performed well in the formation, it was the attacking department where the results were quite apparent. Dele Alli, who started in the No.10 position, ran the midfield very well and had one of his best performances of this season yet. He linked up with Son, who created loads of chances in the first half.
The focus was also on getting the ball getting played into the penalty box, rather than just sending in crosses from outside the box in hope of finding the lone striker in the box. Whatever his gameplan was it worked pretty well in the attacking department. But it also raised some serious issues with the defence in the current system.
Mourinho has always depended on the strength of his defence, his goalkeeper and back four as the backbone of his team’s success. Clearly, the players at his disposition at the club aren't at the level of defenders he is accustomed to, like John Terry at Chelsea and Sergio Ramos at Real Madrid, so he needs to adopt a different approach to get the most out of his squad.
