Fabián Balbuena’s goal, was West Ham’s first and came from a free kick which wasn’t defended well by Spurs at all.
West Ham put 4 men along the ‘d’ and it was Moussa Sissoko that was marking Balbuena as Cresswell prepared to take the kick. One must presume that the plan was for the bigger players to defend against the Hammers’ aerial threat.
By the time Cresswell has whipped the ball in, everyone has moved to within a couple of yards of the 6-yard line. Aside from Reguilon who irrelevant to the ensuing action.
It was Davinson that leapt early (too early), and Sissoko doesn’t appear to leave the ground at all.
Just for the record Sergio is 1.78 m, and Balbuena is 1.88 m. So that was hardly Defoe vs Crouch territory. In fact, Moussa blew out in respect of aerial duels in this match, losing out in the 3 his was involved in.
By the time the ball is in the net, Sissoko is bent in half, and Davinson Sanchez looks to see who scored, because he was facing the goal for the entirety of its flight in.
This was a goal that could have been easily denied. Neither Sanchez nor Sissoko did their jobs.