EPL wrap: Arsenal top table despite draw, West ham stun Spurs

One of the ways sport has the power to enthral is through its ability to serve up unpredictability, to reward the underdog and mock the favourite. And that’s exactly what sport did at White Hart Lane on Sunday. Tottenham’s home Premier League match against West Ham on Sunday was one that appeared a foregone conclusion long before kick-off. The home team had won four of their first six games and the squad has much better depth than it did prior to the sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid. West Ham, after a surprisingly strong start to the 2012-13 season, eventually settled in the bottom half of the table, and with a workmanlike player roster this season they are certainly not immune from relegation. And yet, the team from east London managed a first away win in nine Premier League games, and their first at White Hart Lane since 1999. So what exactly happened? [caption id=“attachment_1156315” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] West Ham United players celebrate after their English midfielder Ravel Morrison scored their third goal during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United. AFP[/caption] Taking a nod from Spain’s success at Euro 2012, perhaps, Hammers boss Sam Allardyce opted to play no recognised strikers, instead rotating newcomer Ravel Morrison and Senegal international Mohamed Diame as “false nines” – and it proved something of a masterstroke. Perhaps a little unnerved, two of Tottenham’s usually reliable defenders, Kyle Walker and Michael Dawson, had poor games. Meanwhile, Andre Villas-Boas had been seduced by Jermain Defoe’s strong Europa League showing to give him his first start of the season, but the striker missed a glorious chance to open the scoring and appeared generally ill at ease. Most alarming for Tottenham was the margin of defeat: a 3-0 reverse. With both Manchester sides and Liverpool to face this side of Christmas, they must hope their four early season wins against some of the weakest Premier League outfits have not unduly flattered them. Spurs were the only one of the major clubs to lose, though Arsenal had to work hard just to get a draw against West Brom. It was not the best time for the Gunners to play the Baggies, who played with the confidence you’d expect of a team fresh from a shock win at Old Trafford. Saido Berahino, the 20-year-old who had scored the winner against Manchester United, started a Premier League game for the first time and was West Brom’s best player, making a nuisance of himself consistently down the left flank, and setting up Nicolas Anelka for the opening goal. Jack Wilshere, who doesn’t get as many goals as an attack-minded midfielder in a strong side should, hit a brilliant equaliser for Arsenal. That was enough for them to share top spot with Liverpool, who had beaten rock-bottom Crystal Palace with ease on Saturday. One team who struggle to do anything easily right now is Manchester United, but David Moyes might have stumbled upon a star in Adnan Januzaj, an 18-year-old making his first Premier League start and enjoying a dream debut. He scored the two goals United needed to come back from one goal down and as well as having an obvious eye for goal, he looks skilful on the ball too. Somewhat remarkably, this kid is eligible to play senior football for Belgium, Albania, Turkey and Serbia. The list might not stop there, as England manager Roy Hodgson is monitoring the situation. Let’s not get carried away though. It’s four and a half years since Federico Macheda was touted as the next great United product after enjoying a similarly fast start to his career. Now he’s at loan to Doncaster Rovers who are in the bottom half of the Championship. Januzaj is a very slightly built player, a potential weakness in such a physical league, and he’ll need to be brave to stand up to some of the big, imposing defenders he’ll come up against. But there is certainly promise there. Manchester City, who had been humbled by Bayern Munich earlier in the week, conceded the first goal of the game to Everton but responded strongly from that setback to win their game 3-1. Goalkeeper Joe Hart is clearly lacking in confidence at the moment, and while he was better on Saturday than he had been against the Germans, he would have certainly expected to keep out Romelu Lukaku’s opening goal. As for Chelsea, their weekend opponents Norwich have not been showing the kind of form they should with a much strengthened squad at their disposal. But the Canaries were five minutes from snatching a draw before late goals from Eden Hazard and William brought the Blues all three points. Jose Mourinho has finally relented enough to allow Juan Mata to start, but the Spaniard would much rather be in the centre rather than the right wing. On the other hand, Oscar, who occupied Mata’s favourite position, had a terrific match.