Tottenham 1 West Ham 0 : Hammers lose again

Tottenham heaped more misery on woeful West Ham thanks to a first-half strike from Egyptian striker Mido.

The former Roma hitman scored his first goal for the club since he returned to White Hart Lane on a permanent basis in the summer.

Mido struck seconds from the end of the first half when he collected a low cross from Edgar Davids and turned Anton Ferdinand before firing the ball home via the far post.

The victory was belated revenge for Tottenham's defeat to West Ham on the final day of last season when, amid suggestions of a food poisoning outbreak, they missed out on a place in the Champions League.

West Ham have much more pressing concerns though. They had been hoping to end a run of six straight defeats in order to relieve some of the pressure on their under-fire manager Alan Pardew.

But the hapless Hammers stretched their dismal run to seven matches and they have failed to score in any of them since the arrival of Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez back in September.

The Hammers continue to plummet towards the foot of the table amid speculation over Pardew's future and lingering talk of a takeover bid.

Not surprisingly, with the club enveloped by such uneasiness, the Upton Park crisis showed no signs of easing against a dominant Spurs outfit that has now gone five games unbeaten in all competitions.

The home side, spurred by success against Besiktas in the UEFA Cup in midweek, should have taken the lead as early as the seventh minute.

Former West Ham favourite Jermain Defoe put his England team-mate Aaron Lennon in the clear but the teenager sidefooted wide of Green's left post from 18 yards.

Green, making his debut in goal for West Ham, then pulled off a superb save to deny Defoe an opener in the 20th minute.

Lennon, whose pace caused Paul Konchesky problems all afternoon, turned supplier this time with a fine run and cross into the penalty area.

Defoe looked certain to score until Green deflected his shot on to the roof of the net.

Two minutes later Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson was forced into action for the only time in the first 45 minutes.

Robinson, the butt of jokes since his England blunder against Croatia, dived to his right to stop Marlon Harewood's drive after the West Ham player had evaded Michael Dawson's weak challenge.

But despite Tottenham's possession, they laboured where it mattered and, Lennon apart, they struggled to find the definitive final ball when it was required.

West Ham, as their goalscoring form suggested, offered little ingenuity in attack. Their impotence in that department was further underlined in the 35th minute when Robinson punched the ball straight to Mascherano from a free-kick.

However, instead of troubling the England goalkeeper, his subsequent volley left a lot to be desired as it spiralled into crowd from 18 yards.

In the 41st minute Mascherano and Defoe were involved in a scuffle which then escalated into a scrum involving all 22 players.

Mascherano had fouled Defoe but the Spurs striker retaliated by appearing to lightly head butt the West Ham midfielder.

Players from both sides then became involved before Bennett restored order and booked both Defoe and Mascherano.

Seconds later Harewood followed them into Bennett's bad books by not retreating the full 10 yards as Spurs attempted to restart the game with a free-kick.

Mido put Spurs in front in the 45th minute when he collected a cross from Davids and turned to fire home off the far post only to receive a yellow card from Bennett for removing his shirt in celebration.

In the 48th minute, Spurs forced Green into another fine save when Jermaine Jenas sent his free-kick towards the top corner. The West Ham keeper managed to push the ball to safety as Spurs continued to probe for a second goal.

In the 59th minute, the hard-working Mido was inches away from his second of the afternoon.

A clever curling cross from Huddlestone was met by the Egyptian's outstretched boot but he could only divert the ball just wide of the far post.

Spurs continued to look the more likely to score and in the 74th minute Defoe squandered a great chance to put the game beyond doubt when his shot was saved by Green at the near post.

But his wastefulness went unpunished as Spurs left West Ham entrenched in a deepening crisis that may ultimately cost Pardew his job.



Tottenham head coach Martin Jol played down suggestions that England striker Jermain Defoe had bitten Javier Mascherano after a first-half goal from Mido left West Ham in a deepening crisis at the foot of the Barclays Premiership table.

Mascherano hauled down Defoe towards the end of the first half and the Spurs striker reacted by appearing to bite the West Ham midfielder on the arm.

But Jol claimed it was nothing more than 'playing nibbling' on Defoe's behalf and said his actions would have left no marks on the Argentinian.

Jol said: 'He was nibbling his arm - there will be no mark. Ask Mascherano if he has got a mark.

'It is part of the game. They kicked him three times from behind in 10 minutes and he wanted to show his frustration in a nice, comical way.'

West Ham boss Alan Pardew claimed he had not seen Defoe bite Mascherano but admitted that the former West Ham player was lucky to have remained on the pitch if that was the case.

Pardew said: 'Mascherano brought him down from behind and that was definitely a booking. I didn't quite see the reaction from Jermain but it looked like he gestured towards Mascherano but whether there was any contact I don't know.

'In today's game he could have gone. If he was sent off there, it would have changed the game.'

Jol praised his side's commitment and character after returning from a difficult trip to Turkey to face Besiktas in the UEFA Cup in midweek.

The north London side are now unbeaten in five games and Mido's goal, his first since returning to the club on a permanent basis in the summer, was the decider.

He collected a cross from Edgar Davids and turned Anton Ferdinand before firing the ball home off the far post in stoppage time.

Jol declared: 'I was very pleased with our commitment and character. It was a great result for us.

'It is always difficult coming back after playing in Europe and then playing this type of game.

'We were really up for this game but it is not easy after all the travelling.'

Spurs were always on top thanks to the pace and trickery of England teenager Aaron Lennon but Jol admitted his final ball was not always of the required standard.

Jol added: 'His final ball was not always good. It is exciting stuff for the crowd but not for me We had opportunities to play simple but the final ball was not good and we made it difficult for ourselves at times.

West Ham's crisis continues unabated with Pardew's side now having lost seven games on the trot.

They have not scored for 668 minutes and lie second from bottom at the foot of the table with Pardew's future under intense speculation along with rumours of a takeover bid.

But, with a tricky visit to Chesterfield looming in the Carling Cup on Tuesday night, Pardew admitted they have to face up to the situation they find themselves in.

Pardew: 'We have had some unusual circumstances and that's compounded the issue but I thought our effort for a team on the back of our results was 100%.

'I could not fault the effort. But we just need that confidence and quality around the box which is lacking at the moment.

'We lack a bit of balance in wide areas and without injured Matty Etherington and Lee Bowyer, that affected us when we were chasing the game.

'I don't know about relegation battle. But after nine games we find ourselves in the bottom three, therefore we need to roll our sleeves up and make sure we stick together.'