Slaven Bilic says West Ham should have 'killed' the game against Tottenham

West Ham manager Slaven Bilić left the Tottenham stadium "extremely disappointed" after two late goals from Harry Kane condemned the Hammers to a dramatic 3-2 defeat on Saturday (19 November). The Croatian boss believes his side should have killed the game before while lamented Winston Reid's late red card, as the defender is set to miss the coming crucial trip to Manchester United.

Michail Antonio gave the Hammers the lead earlier in the first-half with a header before Harry Winks levelled the game for Spurs. West Ham responded again and Manuel Lanzini put them on course for a victory by scoring the 2-1 from the penalty spot.

However, Kane led Tottenham to a dramatic comeback by scoring the equaliser in the 89<sup>th minute before netting the winner after Son Heung-Min was brought down in the area by Havard Nordtveit.

"We are extremely disappointed. We were 2-1 up with three or four minutes to go and [before that] we had three really good opportunities to score the third one. When you are up with three minutes to go you want to win the game. Ok, they can equalise, but to concede two goals – one of which a penalty – is hard to take," Bilić said after the game.

"We were the better side in the first half-hour of the game. They started to push after that and we began to lose the ball quite quickly, but then in the second half after they equalised they had momentum,"

"We scored and then it was a crucial time to hold on, or to score a third one because we had a couple of really good counter-attacks – not with one or two players, but with four. We should have killed the game."

The defeat leaves West Ham only a point outside the relegation ahead of a tough run of fixtures which will start with a Premier League trip to Manchester United. Bilić is confident his side can turn around the situation but will miss Reid at Old Trafford after the defender was sent off in the added time against Tottenham.

"It would have been important for us to get something out of the game, because we have a tough schedule, but then again we have shown that we can put really good performances in and we have chances against whoever we play," the boss said as West Ham will face Manchester United twice (one in the EFL Cup) before two other tough games with Arsenal and Liverpool.

"The red card is another blow for us because Winston was really good today – excellent in anticipating the ball when they played through the middle. It was a bit harsh and now we lose him for one game."