With the competition for the top four in the Premier League entering a white-hot stage, fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur missed the chance to overtake Aston Villa in the early hours of Wednesday morning (3) when they drew 1-1 with Westham in an away match. This season, Tottenham's performance is like a roller coaster, repeatedly staged a reversal of the drama, but also due to mistakes in the lead and lost 20 points, this "roller coaster" data performance has become a huge obstacle for them to compete for the UEFA Europa League tickets.
After a miraculous comeback win over Luton in the previous round with a late burst of energy, Tottenham also started well this time around, with Bjorn Johnson scoring a goal at the near post after just five minutes from a Dim Warner cross. However, the visitors equalized just 19 minutes later when Gertsouma scored from a corner with a backheel. Despite having 68% of the ball, Spurs were not as threatening on goal as Westham, and the two teams ended the game in a 1-1 draw, leaving Spurs two points behind Villa.
Opta data shows that at the end of the season, Tottenham finished second in the Premier League with 22 points, behind Liverpool. But they lost 20 points when they were in the lead, making them the fourth team in Premier League history to have more than 20 points in both "points gained when trailing" and "points lost when leading". In the last 8 rounds of the league, Spurs still need to compete with Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City for the top three, the risk of losing points is very high.
Tottenham Hotspur coach Pusdigao said in the post-match conference, "I think we controlled the game well most of the time, but Westham is a strong team and it's not easy to deal with being a visitor here. Although we didn't win, we did pretty well. There are still a lot of games left in the season, every team has their own goals and every game will be very close."
