Five talking points from Tottenham's 1-1 draw with West Ham

Heung-Min Son cancelled out Pedro Obiang’s 30-yard strike with a stunning long-range goal of his own as Tottenham came from behind to draw 1-1 with London rivals West Ham. Here are five talking points from Wembley.

Moussa Sissoko gets the nod in central midfield but is superfluous

Mauricio Pochettino elected to make three changes to his side after Tuesday’s victory at Swansea.

While it was entirely predictable that Serge Aurier and Harry Kane came into side, and not entirely surprising that Moussa Sissoko also got a start, eyebrows were perhaps raised at the fact that the Frenchman was selected instead of Harry Winks, who was named on the bench for a third successive match.

Winks looked tired against Brighton and Manchester City last month and then missed the trip to Burnley on December 23 with a minor ankle problem, so he may simply have been given extra time to recover.

But Sissoko was still selected ahead of both Mousa Dembele and Victor Wanyama, who were also among the substitutes this evening.

It suggested the 28-year-old had been selected on merit and for tactical reasons – and in fairness he had formed an effectively combative central midfield partnership with Eric Dier in the recent 3-0 victory at Burnley.

Pochettino may have felt it was a suitable partnership for a fierce London derby. However, it left Spurs looking overly reserved and short of creativity against a very defensive Hammers side who were effectively playing in a 5-4-1 system and clearly aiming for a stalemate.

READ MORE: Obiang and Son go spectacular in derby draw

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It quickly became clear that Tottenham did not need two defensive midfielders and, while Dier saw plenty of the ball, Sissoko looked out of place, unsure what to do.

He gradually drifted forward and sought to get more involved around the edge of the box, only to endure a horrible moment as he played a blind pass well behind Aurier and out for a throw-in, drawing groans from the home fans.

It seemed obvious that Pochettino needed to make an attacking change at half time, or early in the second period, but he waited until the 74^th minute to withdraw Sissoko, by which time Spurs were behind.

Obiang stunner gives Hammers the unlikeliest of leads

David Moyes’ visitors rarely provided any sort of attacking threat and were clinging on for a goalless draw in the 70^th minute, defending manfully and repeatedly putting their bodies on the line in their own box.

Yet, remarkably, they took the lead – and in some style as Obiang lashed a rising 30-yard drive past Hugo Lloris and into the top corner.

“We’ve only had one shot,” sang the visiting fans gleefully, and truthfully.

The ‘Wembley curse’ feels like old news at Tottenham – the north Londoners had won their four previous matches under the arch, with an aggregate score of 15-3.

But, as the Irons celebrated their opener, Spurs must have been wondering what they had done to offend Lady Luck so badly.

Son lights up Wembley again

The South Korean had a poor night in Swansea on Tuesday, yet he has been in strong form in general, and he was the saviour tonight.

Just when it seemed Spurs were going to suffer a second successive defeat to West Ham, after their 3-2 League Cup defeat in October, Son stepped up and produced a moment of quality to rival Obiang’s, beating Adrian from at least 25 yards.

It was his sixth goal in nine games, with the last five of those coming at Wembley. He at least seems to be enjoying this season at the national stadium, and he is making important contributions with increasing reliability.

Aurier starts the new year positively

The Ivorian seems to have become Pochettino’s favoured right-back, and he showed why here.

Aurier has made some sloppy defensive errors and rash decisions in his early months at Spurs – he was sent off in the reverse fixture at the London Stadium after getting two silly bookings in quick succession.

This evening, however, he was reliably solid in his own half, while posing a threat going forward – most notably when he made a well-timed run in behind and headed Jan Vertonghen’s excellent crossfield ball across the box to Kane, who couldn’t control it.

This was arguably Aurier’s best game for the club – and with Danny Rose back in the treatment room he is easily Spurs’ quickest senior full-back. On this evidence, he is likely to remain ahead of Kieran Trippier in the pecking order.

Tottenham miss chance to put pressure on Liverpool

In the 80th minute, when they were trailing, Spurs would probably have taken a draw against the Hammers.

They duly levelled – yet there will still be a sense of frustration that they failed to win a game that they utterly dominated.

Spurs had 31 shots, with eight on target, while the Irons managed just three efforts on goal – one of them on target.

Had the Lilywhites won this match they would have been just one point behind fourth-placed Liverpool in the battle for Champions League qualification. Instead, the gap is three points.

Even if Spurs had to come from behind tonight, this still feels like a missed opportunity.

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