Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham reign got off to the perfect start as Spurs beat arch-rivals West Ham 3-2 at the London Stadium.
In their first game without Mauricio Pochettino for five-and-a-half years, Tottenham were virtually unrecognisable from the team which had failed to win away from home since January.
Mourinho got the response he would’ve wanted from his players.
The electric Heung-min Son opened the scoring following fine work from Dele Alli, who looked much more like his usual self, before Lucas Moura doubled the visitors’ lead on the stroke of half-time.
Buried amongst a resurgent performance from Spurs was another truly woeful display by West Ham – and the game continued in that pattern after the break.
Following a dreadful miss by Moura, Harry Kane netted his first goal of the new era with a thumping header to put the game to bed.
Son and Moura were among the goals.
Mourinho will be disappointed that his side took their foot off the gas and offered West Ham a route back into the game when Antonio pulled one back with 15 minutes remaining.
They were fortunate for VAR, which disallowed a Declan Rice goal, before Angelo Ognonna pulled another goal back just before the full-time as Spurs made a slight mess of their three-goal lead.
Nonetheless, the victory shines a positive light on their manager’s big opener and piles some serious pressure on his opposite number, Manuel Pellegrini, who’s future must surely be in doubt following their eighth game without a win.