Spurs were coasting to three points after a devastating opening spell saw them go 3-0 up inside 16 minutes thanks to Son Heung-min’s 45-second opener and Harry Kane’s brace.
But Manuel Lanzini’s stunning stoppage-time strike for West Ham completed a comeback started by Fabian Balbuena and a Davinson Sanchez own goal which left Mourinho’s men shattered.
The Portuguese, who had been determined to shore things up at the back this season, is convinced their late crumble was a blip and pointed to the types of goals they have conceded.
“We have new players,” he said. “We played much better than last season. I can say the same about West Ham.
“West Ham is a much better team than it was when (David) Moyes arrived. The team is in evolution, we play much better, we know how we want to play.
“Defensively the team is much better than before. Can I say that in all this Premier League that we’re playing, five matches, we concede penalties or free-kicks and only one goal from open play – Danny Ings (against Southampton).
Defensively the team is much better than before
“And this shot was also from the sequence of a free-kick. I can look at that and say, yes a team that plays so well for periods and does the most difficult thing in football – scores goals and we’re scoring a lot of goals – cannot lose two points like we did.”
While Spurs were sick at the result, there was delirium in the Hammers camp as they stole the most unlikely of points.
Even though they were 3-0 down, for most of the match they competed well and midfielder Declan Rice felt the comeback was destined.
LAAAAANNNNZZZZZIIIINNNNNNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII pic.twitter.com/7pFBjQmStm
— Michail Antonio (@Michailantonio) October 18, 2020
“Honestly, I can’t tell you what happened at the end!” said Rice on the club’s official website. “It was just one of those special moments in football when it just seemed like it was meant to be.
“Obviously it was not the start we wanted. Going three goals down in 15 minutes is not what we’ve been about recently, but it still felt like we were playing good football and creating chances and it didn’t feel like a 3-0 game.
“For some reason they dropped off us in the second half and didn’t try to kill the game off and I think we grew into it and we said at half-time that once we got one we felt like we could go on and get a draw or get a win.
“It was a moment of brilliance from Manu and you could see the reaction from the boys. I can’t put it into words.”
