Doherty record
It was a very simple decision for Antonio Conte ahead of the London derby against West Ham as he named the same side for the third game in a row. Previously tending to make a few changes here and there in his quest to find his best team, the Italian has quite clearly settled on his XI at present in the absence of Oliver Skipp and Ryan Sessegnon.
His selection meant Matt Doherty once again got the nod at the back, with Emerson Royal, the previous first-choice right wing-back, having to settle for a place on the bench. Doherty's start was in fact his fifth successive one in the Premier League for Spurs, his best run in the team since joining the club at the start of 2020/21.
While it is good that the player is getting a run in the team at present, it also highlights his troubles at Spurs since his switch from Wolves as he was always one of the first names on the teamsheet at Molineux. With nine games remaining this season and the player in top form, he will be confident of extending his record at Tottenham under Conte before the campaign comes to a close.
READ MORE: Tottenham player ratings: Super Son shines, creative Kane with disciplined Romero and Bentancur
Killing off opponents
At the start of the month Conte opened up on his team's failure to kill off their opponents when speaking after their shock FA Cup defeat against Middlesbrough. Having chances to open the scoring at the Riverside Stadium, Spurs' failure to net gave the hosts plenty of hope and they duly went on to win the game.
Wednesday evening was very much the same at Brighton as Harry Kane and Dejan Kulusevski wasted big opportunities in the first half to put the game out of sight, although the former's second-half goal did help give them a vital two-goal cushion to get the three points in the bag. Scoring early against West Ham through Kurt Zouma's own goal, Tottenham then missed a golden opportunity through Son Heung-min to double the lead.
Potentially one that could have come back to haunt them instantly given who they were up against, the South Korean atoned for his earlier miss with a well-taken strike on 24 minutes. The Lilywhites did miss some excellents chances late in the second half to wrap up the result before Son grabbed his second of the game.
It was perhaps a nervier finale than it needed to be but thankfully Spurs sealed such a vital win in the top-four battle.
Who Conte celebrated Son's goal with
Son's goal against the Hammers was Tottenham at their very best. On the ball in the middle of the park after Rodrigo Bentancur picked him up with a precise ball, Kane lifted his head and, as expected, saw Son on his bike down the left flank.
Playing a wonderful ball between Zouma and Craig Dawson to play his teammate in, Spurs' No.7 fired high into the net with his shot taking a slight deflection off West Ham's French centre-back. Conte was extremely impressed by the strike and his joy could be seen as he made his way back to the substitutes' bench.
Walking towards his coaching staff as he celebrated, the 52-year-old actually reached over to Spurs' substitutes as Pierluigi Gollini could be seen saying something at his boss and reached over to high five him. The pair then shared a very quick moment as they celebrated the team going 2-0 up before refocusing on the task at hand.
Why Reguilon was upset with Zouma
Sergio Reguilon wasn't impressed at all with Zouma early on in the second half following an incident involving Son. Having won a corner after Lukasz Fabianski had saved from Kane following a quick Spurs break, the West Ham defender kicked the ball towards the South Korean who was walking towards the corner flag.
The ball did actually strike the Tottenham attacker on the back of his legs and he went to ground as a result. Reguilon, who wasn't far away from the incident, came steaming in to confront Zouma and it resulted in a small melee in the penalty box.
Romero masterclass
Cristian Romero and Spurs' backline knew they were going to be in for a very tough afternoon with Michail Antonio leading West Ham's attack. Such a key figure for David Moyes' men due to his power and strength which causes their opponents major issues, he in fact had a rather quiet outing at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
That was in part down to Romero's excellent defending over the course of the game as he made life incredibly difficult for West Ham's frontman. The Argentina international just didn't give the 31-year-old a sniff as his aggressive and determined play made life incredibly difficult for Antonio.
The summer signing also showed another side to his game midway through the second half with some composed play in the corner to play his way out of trouble. He was quite simply outstanding and showed everyone why he is rated so highly in the game.
