The fact that Tottenham saw most of the ball came as little surprise. West Ham are built to absorb pressure and the longer this game remained locked at 1-1, the less likely that David Moyes was to tell his side to gamble on chasing the goal that would have tightened their grip on seventh place.
Perhaps Moyes, drawing on that pragmatic streak, wanted to see some proper defending after West Ham’s collapse against Newcastle. There was a lot of talk of “resilience” from the Scot, who rued Michail Antonio wasting a glorious opportunity on the hour, and a distinct relish in the way he spoke about restricting Spurs to so few clear chances. “We had to defend,” said Moyes, who accepted that a draw was the right result. “But that is part of football.”
