West Ham United fought well to snatch a point against Tottenham Hotspur after going 1-0 down following a first half Thilo Keher own goal.
The Czech international Tomáš Souček dragged his team back into contention with a classily finished goal in the fifty-fifth minute to seal the Hammers a deserved point against a well-drilled Conte team.
Antonio Conte named a mostly unchanged side from the team that squeezed a win out of Nottingham Forrest. Only Yves Bissouma was new in the starting XI, who earns his first Premier League start for his new club after a string of successful substitute appearances.
West Ham, however, opted for four at the back in this midweek fixture, a change from their defensive trio that beat Aston Villa.
Vladimir Coufal returned to the side, while new signing Gianluca Scamacca was side lined for this London derby due to illness.
Story of the Match
Despite technical difficulties with the refereeing equipment delaying kick off, Tottenham rolled the matches’ first ball at the London Stadium.
Fullback Emerson Royal gave David Moyes’ side their first scare with a long-range but powerful strike from outside the box, but its trajectory was destined for Lukas Fabianski’s gloves.
Soon after, Tomáš Souček slipped in Jarred Bowen who ran direct onto goal, but Ben Davis did enough to put the ex-Hull City man off as he shanked his shot wide.
Just moments later, Argentinian Manuel Lanzini was afforded far too much space outside the area and had the time to line up a curling shot to test Spurs captain Hugo Lloris, but the World Cup winning goalkeeper passed this modest test.
West Ham began the match the better side, offering much more going forward and appearing to threaten the Tottenham defence with determination.
Tottenham were nearly afforded a slice of luck, with a penalty initially being awarded for a handball by Aaron Cresswell, who’s positioning in the box resulted in Harry Kane’s header supposedly striking the fullback’s arm.
But after a very lengthy VAR decision, Moyes’ boys were let off the hook as the ball was deemed to hit Cresswell’s head before striking the arm.
No penalty. Game on.
The early drama in east London set the tempo of the match as West Ham fans emulated the atmosphere of their beloved old Upton Park.
The passion from the stands rang around the ground, the twelfth man in full voice.
West Ham continued their pressure as Michial Antonio adopted a dangerous position just outside the area and whipped a powerful strike towards goal.
Only the post denied the Jamaican international the opening goal of the match and his first of the season.
Tottenham meanwhile looked edgy, with Conte’s side receiving two yellow cards within the first twenty-five minutes.
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg tried to replicate his long-distance wonder strike against Chelsea as he struck for goal, but the same quality was not present this time as the ball was smothered comfortable by Fabianski.
While West Ham were certainly setting the tempo of this match, Spurs were not without their opportunities. It was just some cutting edge that eluded Conte's side which prevented them going ahead.
Both Harry Kane and Dejan Kulusevski performed well in these areas, but the chemistry between the front line was absent as the final balls were too often going astray.
Kane especially was showing glimpses of his outstanding playmaking ability, but Tottenham appeared lackadaisical in their attempts to attack the ball while their London rivals seemed to want it more.
But fortune does not always favour the bold, as Kane drove the ball up the pitch on the counter attack and played in Kulusevski onto the right wing.
The Swede neatly slipped the ball towards Son Heung-min who looked dead set to tap in the ball himself, before Thilo Kehrer’s attempt to clear the pass only resulted in the ball meeting the back of the West Ham net.
Against the run of play, Conte’s side went 1-0 up.
West Ham continued with their determination, with most of their attacking threat coming down the left channel through Manuel Lanzini after his side continuously won the midfield battle to reclaim possession and spring fearsome attacks towards the Tottenham goal.
The tempo of the game was slowed down by Tottenham, who opted to strangle out West Ham’s attacking momentum by playing the ball around the backline in possession and sitting deep in their own half when out of possession.
Classic Conte game management in all its glory.
West Ham were still determined to equalise but struggled against the pace of the Tottenham counter attack.
Højbjerg made a darting run towards goal in the first half's closing moments, but Declan Rice tracked back exceptionally and made a delightfully old-fashioned tackle to stop the Dane in his tracks.
The first half petered out in much the same manner as the rest of the opening forty-five minutes, ending a tight and tiresome half of football.
The second half began much as the first ended with minimal clear cut chances and a frustrating lack of opportunities for either side.
Son had the half’s first chance, with a powerful low-driven effort from within the box deflecting for a corner.
Højbjerg had persistent injury issues following Rice's tackle late in the first half. Whether this was a genuine injury concern of tactical slowing down of the game, only Højbjerg knows.
Czech the Score
But despite Tottenham's attempts to halt the pace of the game, West Ham clinched the equaliser through Tomáš Souček.
The claret-clad club won a cheap throw in from a poor Lloris clearance, with the resulting throw in launched towards Antonio.
The striker then coolly flicked the ball into the path of Souček, who was arrowing into the box to exploit the empty space.
The Czeck international calmly controlled the ball in his path with his first touch and leathered it into the back of the net with his second.
1-1 as the Hammers nailed their London rivals to equalise.
The pace of the game, naturally and thankfully, picked up.
West Ham aimed to capitalise on their new-found momentum, with Rice aiming to scribble his name on the score sheet with a powerful drive towards Lloris, only to be blocked by Eric Dier.
Tottenham responded to the equaliser, however.
Possessional dominance defined Spurs' play after conceding as the Lilywhites began to suffocate the Irons.
Moyes' answer to this? Their new £51 million signing, Lucas Paqueta who replaced Saïd Benrahma.
The Brazilian's first few touches oozed class and composure as the former Lyon man looked to make his mark in this tight affair.
Tottenham, meanwhile, looked shaky at the back.
Davidson Sánchez decided that simulation was his best decision when being pressured by Antonio in his own box.
Son sought to drag his team ahead with a long-range whipped effort which was heading for the top corner, prevented only by a minor deflection.
But the momentum was truly with the home side, the crowd making themselves more and more lively as the match approached its closing fifteen minutes.
Conte sought to change this with the introduction of Richarlison as the former Everton man looked to get his first goal for his new club.
Pablo Fornals had a golden opportunity to edge his side ahead with a free volley inside the area, but his shot had too much power and too little accuracy to trouble Lloris.
Ivan Perišić then drove a hard cross into the West Ham box, but it met no one and rolled across the box. Emerson Royal however found himself in possession and drove it back into the danger area.
Deflections and confusion resulted in the ball finding Kane, who leathered the ball low and hard, but Fabianski got down quickly and made an exceptional save.
In the matches' closing ten minutes, the game could have gone either way with both teams offering similar levels of attacking threat and defensive resilience.
Paqueta nearly had the chance to etch his name into West Ham folklore with a debut winner.
The Brazilian found himself in space inside the area and ready to unleash.
Bowen's cross, however, just slipped away from his and under his boot and the chance went amiss, presumably the result of a lack of communication between him and his team mates.
Again, West Ham almost robbed Tottenham of a point, when Paqueta played through Bowen, who's shot slipped across the danger area but failed to meet the boot of any of the Irons' players.
Despite a scare in the final moments, the match ended 1-1 as both sides split the spoils following a tight but often tenuous affair.
Player of the Match
This match was not blessed with many outstanding individual performances. Tottenham gave a systematic Conte performance, but the quality often found in their forward players was left back in north London this evening.
West Ham played with much more urgency and tenacity, epitomised by Tomas Soucek.
The powerful midfielder took his goal like a clinical striker, but also helped his team progress up the field, while his passing range helped bring other players into the match.