West Ham made it hard for us to play – Tottenham boss Pochettino

“The pitch was the first, the second, you know how they play, they are a strong team, it is true that it was hard to manage and play the way we play the last few games, or that we have played from the beginning of the season”.

But Spurs boss Pochettino said: “Was it nerves?”

“The second half I think we started very well, we deserved more in the second half, if we scored I think the draw was fair”.

“We made some mistakes and the team didn’t feel free to play the way they play”.

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic claimed Tottenham were lucky not to have been beaten by more after his side defeated their high-flying London rivals 1-0 at Upton Park. “But we need to feel good and confident in our squad and ensure we are ready for Saturday”.

The Hammers head to the Olympic Stadium next season but they will miss nights like this as their famous old ground was rocking.

Michail Antonio celebrates scoring a goal for West Ham.

Michail Antonio’s headed goal after just seven minutes was enough to give West Ham the win and prevent Tottenham from leapfrogging Leicester City at the top of the Premier League table.

Tottenham, having become the masters at coming from behind this season, had plenty of time to respond – but this time they could not find a way back.

“When you lose you can blame that the players are exhausted or whatever but the reality is that it was just a bad night for us to play the way we play tonight”.

“Spurs should be more happy with the result than us – it should have been more“. We are on the top and we come from a very busy period that we play Europa League, FA Cup and now Premier [League] in one week – three games.

“In all aspects of football we were magnificent and I congratulate the players”.