Slaven Bilic given something to smile about as West Ham stun Tottenham in League Cup fightback

Tottenham Hotspur 2 West Ham United 3: Mauricio Pochettino's men threw away their two-goal lead to be dumped out of the League Cup by their London rivals

West Ham's players celebrate with Angelo Ogbonna after the Italian put his side ahead (Getty)

Mauricio Pochettino said that winning the League Cup is not a “life-changing” feat but the question for West Ham United now is whether so sensationally winning this fourth-round tie against Tottenham Hotspur could be season-changing for the club - and, more pressingly, their manager.

This was the kind of turnaround so pronounced and unexpected that it’s hard not to consider whether it could yet prove a turnaround for Slaven Bilic. It went from two games to save his job and 2-0 down at half-time to a scarcely believable 3-2 win. West Ham thereby displayed the kind of resolve and recovery that really should have been beyond a team under a manager supposed to be a dead man walking.

Before even getting that far, though, it should have been beyond a team that were this bad in the first half and against a Spurs side on this type of form. Pochettino’s side lost all that momentum, however, and it means the 2018 League Cup won’t now be the first trophy of his Tottenham career.

Whether he actually cares about that only he will know, but he did put out a strong team, even without Harry Kane, and then brought on both Mousa Dembele and Christian Eriksen to try and rescue this match. It didn’t matter by then, because it had already mattered more to West Ham.

You could see it in the way Mark Noble and Andy Carroll went around revving up their teammates, in how Andrew Ayew put the extra yards in to reach the ball for his two goals. It was all so different to the first half and most of the season so far, and also somewhat difficult to understand - especially given the very start to the game.

To truly appreciate the comeback you also have to acknowledge how bad they were in getting into the kind of situation that required it.

As tends to be the case in such situations, and with two teams in such starkly different form, it didn’t take long for much of it to come together in what seemed a fairly conclusive manner. Six minutes in fact.

That was when West Ham stepped up with the kind of abandon that suggested a side without a proper plan, and without the kind of back-up that would have at least shown some kind of structure. Inevitably, they lost the ball, and Spurs showed the kind of ruthlessness that is winning them so many games.

The thrillingly in-form Heung-Min Son surged forward, easily feeding the oncoming Moussa Sissoko, who was in an embarrassing amount of space to slide it past Adrian.

Ayew celebrates bringing his side level at Wembley (Getty)

They just again looked so dynamic at that point, West Ham so devoid of ideas.

Pochettino had said before the game that he felt a physical battle against Andy Carroll would be a good experience for 19-year-old Juan Foyth in just his second game for Spurs since joining from Estudiantes, but any type of fight was a long time coming. Despite their hulking striker facing a mere 19-year-old, West Ham couldn’t even seem to get any crosses up to Carroll. When they finally did, he somewhat farcically hacked at a loose ball in the area and almost fell over.

That was how bad it was for West Ham, and meant it wasn’t long until the score got worse. On 38 minutes, having already forced a brilliant save from Adrian with a header, Dele Alli got his goal. His curling shot deflected off the back of Declan Rice and in.

It was after that goal that Noble first began going around to teammates, looking to get a response - and it did bring a response. You also can’t accuse him of not leading by example. He got himself booked at the start of the second half for squaring up to Danny Rose and, if that was risky, it was the start of something else; and the start of the comeback.

On 55 minutes, a corner came out to the edge of the box for Edmilson Fernandes to fire back at goal with a fine rasping shot. Michael Vorm got down to parry it, but only to the feet of Andre Ayew, who hammered it into the net.

Moussa Sissoko set the ball rolling on the night with his opener (Getty)

The mood had changed. The stadium had changed, with the away end becoming more charged.

Spurs had suddenly lost all momentum and control, while West Ham had fully found a new life - and an equaliser.

Just five minutes after Ayew hit his first, he claimed a second. This was down to the tenacity of Manuel Lanzini, but also the sloppiness that seemed to overcome the Spurs defence. The Argentine burrowed his way into the box before squaring for Ayew to swerve the ball in.

You would have thought Spurs had been jolted into action with the way Son very quickly forced a save from Adrian, but something bigger seemed to have gone in their game. That was fully displayed on 71 minutes when none of their physically biggest players could get close to Ogbonna in the box, and the Italian was left to thunder a header past Vorm to make it 3-2.

Pochettino looked furious, but not frozen. Mousa Dembele was brought on, as Sissoko also hammered a shot at goal that Adrian beat away.

West Ham were now beating Spurs back in general, imbued by a new fire.

Danny Rose in action for Spurs (Getty)

It said much that, even with Dembele and Eriksen on, the best Pochettino’s side could offer in response was Alli going over in the box.

No penalty was given by Mike Dean, just as no quarter had been given any more by West Ham.

There was a new grit through them, to put them through to the next round.

A new momentum? That’s harder to say, but they had done an admirable job of disrupting Spurs.

Their players were kicking the ball away in frustrating once the final whistle went, while West Ham's were punching in the air. Bilic was right in amongst them - and may yet be for some time longer.