West Ham`s season has been remarkably lacklustre, failing to ignite even for a match against their biggest rivals.
A much-altered Tottenham side and the Hammers produced what felt like one of the most uninspired London derbies in recent memory.
The atmosphere lacked energy and fight, with noticeable empty seats in the stands.
West Ham, under Graham Potter according to this report and with little left to play for, showed a worrying lack of drive, especially after a seven-game winless streak.
Tottenham`s Ange Postecoglou, conversely, will be relieved to have avoided a potentially record 20th defeat of the season and to have navigated this tricky fixture situated between two European semi-finals.
The Australian coach made eight changes after Thursday`s win, seemingly hoping for a quiet afternoon without complications.
Beyond Jarrod Bowen, who cancelled out Wilson Odobert`s opener, West Ham posed little threat to their opponents.
Potter`s comments wishing Spurs well in Europe before the game reportedly irritated some home fans, and his players occasionally seemed overly passive on the pitch.
The prevalent apathy around West Ham this season was clearly visible in the sparse crowd, despite this traditionally being the biggest home game against Tottenham.
This contributed to a flat early atmosphere, only briefly energized by boos after Tottenham`s goal.
Tottenham`s goal was the result of a defensive mix-up: Max Kilman, a £40 million signing, failed to clear the ball twice, inadvertently setting up Mathys Tel, who assisted Odobert for his first Premier League goal for Spurs.
A video caption indicated: “`Give Fullkrug the manager`s job` – West Ham star launches expletive-laden rant at team-mates for `not playing football`
Overall quality was low from both sides, but West Ham`s most consistent performer this season stepped up once more.
Jarrod Bowen has been West Ham`s most effective player for much of the campaign and scored a cool finish, exploiting some poor Spurs defending.
Mohammed Kudus played the ball wide to Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Given space to advance, the right-back picked out Bowen`s run, which the Spurs defence failed to track. This allowed the England international to take on Guglielmo Vicario and nutmeg him.
The goal reminded West Ham that Tottenham have also been defensively vulnerable this season.
However, for much of the game, West Ham were too disorganized to create meaningful opportunities and seemed prone to making mistakes at the back as well.
Defensive errors included Jean-Clair Todibo`s missed clearance and Lucas Paqueta`s simple pass directly to Richarlison, which initiated a move that nearly led to a second Spurs goal.
Paqueta and Kudus both appeared ineffective, as did Niclas Fullkrug, who was starting for the first time since reportedly calling his teammates “s***” the previous month.
West Ham`s primary attacking threat came from Bowen and Wan-Bissaka trying to create space on the right.
However, this approach left gaps, which Tel exploited to get a shot on goal, forcing a save from Alphonse Areola at the near post.
Bowen continued to try and push his team forward, sending a volley just wide, but his efforts were frequently let down by his teammates.
For the second time, Paqueta made a simple pass directly to a Tottenham player, leading to Aaron Cresswell having to clear the ball behind for a corner.
The Brazilian midfielder had a poor performance, and was even visibly upset after receiving a yellow card for a clear foul on Spurs substitute Mikey Moore.
It was another dismal outing in a difficult season for Paqueta, who remains under scrutiny due to an FA investigation into alleged spot-fixing.
Potter`s significant tactical changes yielded no positive impact, while Spurs seemed content to just see out the game, with Pape Sarr`s long-range effort going just over the bar.
West Ham lacked energy and inspiration; Tottenham appeared to be conserving energy for their Europa League commitments.
Only Bowen seemed unwilling to settle for a draw for the home side; the captain had a diving header well saved by Vicario.
James Ward-Prowse delivered the dangerous free-kick that created that opportunity and also sent a late free-kick just wide of the post.
Potter has indicated his readiness to make substantial changes to the squad in the upcoming summer transfer window.
Based on uninspired performances like this, it would be difficult to oppose selling almost every player except Bowen.
