West Ham have fresh hope - but Spurs now in uncharted territory
West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo insisted there was still "a lot of work to do" - but enjoyed a "big step" towards safety after Taty Castellanos and Konstantinos Mavropanos both scored twice at London Stadium. "We are happy, extremely happy," he told Sky Sports. "All of us deserve this kind of evening, especially our fans.
"The London Stadium today was amazing, bouncing with energy and helping us in the hard parts. " But while West Ham fans were bouncing, Tottenham supporters watching at home were likely slumping further into their armchairs as each goal went in. Spurs, who face Sunderland on Sunday in new boss Roberto de Zerbi's first game in charge, are now in completely uncharted territory.
West Ham thump Wolves to plunge Spurs into bottom three While Spurs have flirted with the bottom three for the past two seasons - even during their run to Europa League glory 11 months ago, they finished 17th in the league - this is the first time they have actually occupied the relegation zone since 2015. On that occasion, the league season was only one game old and Tottenham - then managed by Mauricio Pochettino - had lost their opener against Manchester United , but finished the campaign in third place. To find the last time Spurs were in the relegation zone past the midway point of a campaign, you have to go back to February 1998 - when they sat 18th after 24 games.
But after 31 matches? That has never happened in the Premier League era. This is another new low.
What will worry Spurs fans even more is that across 31 Premier League seasons, a team occupying 18th place after 31 matches has been relegated on 21 occasions. "When I look at the Tottenham team... where's your match-winner?