Tottenham Hotspur lost 1-0 away at West Ham United on Friday evening.
West Ham United’s Aaron Cresswell in action with Tottenham’s Kyle Walker
Tottenham Hotspur’s challenge for the Premier League title looks to be over after losing 1-0 to West Ham United on Friday evening.
Spurs went into their matchup against their London rivals having won each of their previous nine Premier League games, cutting Chelsea’s lead at the top of the table to just four points.
Whilst Mauricio Pochettino’s men could have cut that to one point on Friday ahead of Chelsea’s meeting with Middlesbrough on Monday, they fell to a surprise 1-0 defeat to West Ham.
The Hammers, who had won just one of their previous 11 games, struck the winner when Manuel Lanzini smashed the ball home from close range in the second half, capitalising on some slack defending from Spurs.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic with Tottenham’s Kyle Walker
Tottenham struggled throughout, failing to really threaten in attack whilst looking uncharacteristically shaky at the back, with right back Kyle Walker a particular offender during his time on the pitch.
Walker, 26, has been in and out of the side of late as Kieran Trippier has emerged into Pochettino’s first team, but Walker was given the nod despite speculation surrounding his long-term future at White Hart Lane.
Tottenham’s Kieran Trippier comes on as a substitute to replace Kyle Walker
As reported by the London Evening Standard, Walker has held talks with Pochettino about his future with the club, with Manchester City keen to land him this summer – and his performance against West Ham was a major disappointment, before he was substituted on 80 minutes for Trippier.
Fans took to Twitter during and after the game to slam Walker’s performance, suggesting that his head has been turned by the Manchester City rumours, and if he wants to leave, then Tottenham should let him go, with some questioning whether he will ever play for Spurs again.
What did you think of Walker’s performance against West Ham?
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