Bowen pounces for West Ham to deny Spurs but boos ring out for Hammers
Jacob Steinberg at the London Stadium
Date published: Sun 4 May 2025 16.10 BST

West Ham have played leading roles in plenty of awful games down the years but surely none have been quite this pointless or downright insulting to the paying public. At least there was an excuse for Tottenham, whose season rests on them holding their nerve in the Arctic Circle this week. There is no equivalent silver lining for West Ham. They are limping towards the finish line and the only takeaway from this performance is that only a major overhaul of a stale, demotivated squad will help them avoid further turmoil next season.

There has been no uplift since Graham Potter, whose side look likely to finish 17th after they missed a chance to overtake Spurs and extended their winless run to eight games, replaced Julen Lopetegui in January. West Ham have taken 14 points from 15 games under Potter and they approached this meeting with Ange Postecoglou's B Team with a staggering lack of enthusiasm. Jarrod Bowen and Aaron Wan-Bissaka were the only players to emerge with any real credit. A passionless 1-1 draw, secured when Wan-Bissaka sent Bowen through to cancel out Wilson Odobert's early goal, was met with deserved boos at a bored London Stadium.

West Ham's visionless board should be alarmed by the apathy in the stands. Some fans were still strolling in at kick-off, plenty had stayed away and there was silence when the teams emerged. Spurs, who made eight changes before they look to protect a 3-1 lead in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final against Bodo/Glimt on Thursday, could not have asked for a gentler welcome. West Ham were agreeably hospitable, even going out of their way to help the visitors into the lead after 15 minutes of soporific football.

The sight of Max Kilman, who has struggled since his £40m move from Wolves last summer, failing to clear his lines before Odobert made it 1-0 summed up the damage Potter has to repair during pre-season. The centre-back had time to deal with a harmless ball down the left flank but played himself into trouble by twice wafting clearances against Mathys Tel. A nothing situation became one fraught with danger, leaving Odobert to stroke home his first league goal of the season after Richarlison dummied Tel's pass into the winger's path.

Postecoglou was pleased with his side's effort. Avoiding a 20th defeat of a sorry league campaign was a boost, although the Spurs manager was more worried about whether James Maddison will shake off a knee injury in time for the trip to Bodo. "It doesn't look great," said Postecoglou, who was more optimistic about Dominic Solanke's chances off recovering from a thigh complaint. "We're waiting for further information."

Spurs lacked creativity without Maddison. Postecoglou acknowledged that his changes disrupted their rhythm, which allowed West Ham to feel their way back into the contest. "They scored against the run of play," Potter said. "Because of the moment we're having it's tough. But credit to the players, credit to the supporters, we stuck together and carried on."

It is a surprise that Bowen wants to stay and fight. West Ham's captain would not be short of suitors were he to press for a move but his motivation remains undimmed. If only others in claret and blue were as driven. The winger never stops going and West Ham were again indebted to him when he equalised in the 28th minute.

The goal came from Mohammed Kudus switching play to Wan-Bissaka on the right. The wing-back had time to slide a pass down the line to Bowen, who encountered no resistance as he darted away from Ben Davies, dribbled inside and threaded a low finish through Guglielmo Vicario's legs.

Yet if that was a reminder of how easy it is to make chances against Spurs, West Ham looked determined to match them for defensive ineptitude. They could have trailed again when Lucas Paqueta lost possession in midfield; Richarlison shot wide.

West Ham remained disjointed at the start of the second half. Jean-Clair Todibo sent a simple pass out for a throw. Kudus, displaying all the motivation of a man who knows he will be sold this summer, gave Archie Gray an easy time at right-back. Niclas Fullkrug, who had the gall to criticise his teammates after the draw with Southampton last month, used 80 minutes in the company of Postecoglou's reserve centre-backs to confirm that he is unsuited to the pace of the Premier League. Spurs threatened through Tel and Pape Matar Sarr.

Potter urged West Ham to push up. Vicario denied Bowen and James Ward-Prowse whipped a free-kick over after coming off the bench, but the final 30 minutes were dreadful. Paqueta appeared to be crying when he picked up a late yellow card. He was not alone in feeling miserable.

Daily Mail: MATCH FACTS
West Ham (3-4-2-1): Areola 6, Todibo 5.5 (Coufal 80), Kilman 5, Cresswell 6.6 (Mavropanos 88); WAN-BISSAKA 7.5, Paqueta 6 (Ward-Prowse 80), Soucek 6.5 (Soler 80), Emerson 6.5; Kudus 7, Bowen 7; Fullkrug 6 (Ferguson 80)
Subs not used: Fabianski, Guilherme, Ings, Rodriguez
Goals: Bowen 28
Booked: Kudus, Paqueta
Manager: Graham Potter 6
Tottenham (4-3-3): Vicario 6; Gray 6.5, Danso 7, Davies 6.5, Spence 7; Kulusevski 6.5, Bissouma 7, Sarr 6; Odobert 7, Richarlison 6 (Moore 67, 6), Tel 7.5
Subs not used: Udogie, Romero, Johnson, Porro, Bentancur, Kinsky, van de Ven, Ajayi
Goals: Odobert 15
Booked: Davies, Tel
Manager: Ange Postecoglou 6.5
Referee: Michael Oliver 7
Attendance: 62,468
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