No club has reached the halfway point of their Premier League campaign just yet, but nevertheless some January match-ups have posed as early “six pointers”.
That was certainly the case on Wednesday night, with Leeds hosting West Ham and Southampton welcoming fellow relegation-zoners Nottingham Forest. All the while, 19th-placed Wolves were in action as well at West Midlands rivals Aston Villa, who were 12th before the evening’s action started.
At Elland Road, David Sullivan was watching on from the stands just hours after it was announced that his long-term business partner David Gold had died at the age of 86 following a short illness.
West Ham, whose players wore black armbands, headed into an emotional night 17th in the table with manager David Moyes very much under pressure.
They ended the night still in 17th, but only after playing out an entertaining draw, having trailed before leading 2-1.
Rodrigo scored Leeds’ equaliser in the 70th minute, with a frantic finale unable to produce a winner.
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On the south coast, Southampton remain rooted to the bottom of the table after Taiwo Awoniyi’s first-half strike lifted Forest out of the relegation zone.
It proved to be the only shot on target, with Nathan Jones’ hosts failing to test Dean Henderson in the Forest goal.
Meanwhile, Wolves’ deservedly led Villa 1-0 at half-time but were thankful to end the game with a point after Leon Bailey spurned a glorious chance in the dying moments.
Danny Ings had scored his fourth goal in as many games against Wolves to level the match, and at full-time he ran over to an inconsolable Bailey, who was utterly distraught and crying after his late miss.
Elsewhere, Tottenham returned to winning ways in style at Crystal Palace, with Harry Kane scoring twice before Matt Doherty added a third and Son Heung-min a fourth at Selhurst Park.
Scroll down for reports, reaction and talking points from Wednesday night’s action…
Premier League table and results
View the Premier League table here and results page here
Wednesday 4 January scores:
- Southampton 0-1 Nottingham Forest
- Leeds 2-2 West Ham
- Aston Villa 1-1 Wolves
- Crystal Palace 0-4 Tottenham
Moyes deserves time after entertaining draw
Leeds 2-2 West Ham (Gnonto 27′, Rodrigo 70′ | Lucas Paqueta 45′ pen, Scamacca 46’)
By Pete Hall
No matter how much he wanted it, like Logan Roy’s power-thirsty children, succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson was always going to be the impossible job for David Moyes, and what came next was always going to be affected by how he did in the Manchester United hotseat.
Moyes was not West Ham supporters’ first choice to take over from Manuel Pellegrini in 2019 given his failure at United, not by any stretch, but what he has done since, operating in a perpetual shroud of negativity that tends to follow him like a bad smell, is nothing short of extraordinary.
Taking a team that has been overperforming under him in the last two seasons to greater heights would only be possible with one thing – money and spend is what Moyes and West Ham did in the summer. To rather limited success.
As a result, there have been calls from Hammers supporters with short memories that it is time for a change at the West Ham helm coming into their trip to Leeds, as their side travelled to Yorkshire looking to avoid extending their run of successive league defeats to six, something that has not happened in nearly 13 years.
Nonetheless, as he has done before and will do again, Moyes keeps on coming, trying everything possible to be given time in a job his talent deserves. The knives were being sharpened by the naysayers with relish after Wilfried Gnonto gave Leeds the lead at Elland Road in a crucial basement battle, but goals from players Moyes gambled his reputation on in the summer helped the Hammers stop the rot and earn the boss the stay of execution, at the very least, he has more than earned.
In a match between two teams slugging it out at the wrong end of the table, the quality, despite the wealth of talent on the pitch, was always going to be lacking. The intensity, however, was in plentiful supply.
The impressive Gnonto, one of the few bright sparks at Elland Road of late, could not have picked a more stylish manner to open his goalscoring account in English football, lashing the ball into the net with his left foot after a neat one-two with Crysencio Summerville.
Goals, or lack thereof, are why West Ham are where they are this season, but you could not tell their forward line were shorn of confidence, and a goal down, as they took the game to the hosts, deservedly levelling after Lucas Paqueta stroked home a penalty, following one of those oh-so-popular lengthy VAR reviews to have another look at a foul on Jarrod Bowen.
The half-time team talk was a crucial one for Moyes, knowing what another defeat could do to his chances to keeping his job, but whatever he said he needs to bottle up and sell on to all aspiring coaches as Gianluca Scamacca, another big-money signing who has failed to deliver this season, arrowed a strike into the bottom corner, 44 seconds after the restart.
The Hammers travelling faithful could not believe their eyes, with “how s__t are you, we’re winning away” coming down from the away end. Such confidence was warranted, with West Ham in control, rarely troubled by Leeds, but when you are down at the bottom, you can never relax, with Rodrigo, who had previously been totally anonymous, rifling a stunning strike out of nowhere into the net to level things up once again. When the chips are down, those sorts of goals always seem to go in against Moyes sides.
The nerves crept in in the latter stages, given what was at stake. As did the mistakes. Both teams had chances to win it, Declan Rice skying West Ham’s most glaring, Liam Cooper skying Leeds’.
A point is what both had to settle for, but the spirit in which West Ham fought for their besieged boss, proves they are behind his project, and believe there is life in the old dog yet.
Kane lifts Spurs in second-half salvo
Crystal Palace x-x Tottenham (Kane 48’, 53’, Doherty 68’, Son 72’)
By Oliver Young-Myles
SELHURST PARK — Watching Tottenham over recent months has been to sit through the same movie on repeat: a slow opening sequence, followed by a period of strife, building up towards a dramatic finale. Spurs had conceded the first goal in each of their previous 10 matches in all competitions before heading to Selhurst Park.
When their sleepwalking curse was finally lifted, it came via their familiar hometown hero: Harry Kane. The England captain rose to nod in Ivan Perisic’s cross after 48 minutes, before doubling his and Spurs’ tally for the evening five minutes later with a vintage Kane strike, arrowed low across the goalkeeper into the bottom corner. It was a fitting haul on his 300th Premier League appearance, all but three of which have come in Spurs’ colours.
With Son Heung-min toiling, Kane’s goals have been even more valuable for Spurs this season; his 15 Premier League goals represents just under half of their overall total. Only Erling Haaland, who Manchester City turned to after missing out on Kane last summer, has registered more. Spurs may have been unconvincing for much of the campaign, but their star man has been as deadly as ever.
Kane will have to wait until March for a chance to become England’s record goalscorer after moving level with Wayne Rooney during the World Cup but by the time he links up with the Three Lions he will surely have surpassed the great Jimmy Greaves as Tottenham’s all-time top scorer. Only two goals separated two of English football’s most lethal finishers.
Not only is Kane set to become Tottenham’s most prolific player in history, but he is also one of their greatest-ever creators too. After netting the first two, he played a significant role in the third and fourth goals to add gloss to the scoreline.
Read Oliver Young-Myles’ full piece from Selhurst Park here
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