West Ham 0 Tottenham 2

It also meant another happy outing at Upton Park for former Irons boss Harry Redknapp, his fourth win as an opposing manager in as many visits.

And for current West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola it looks like being a difficult few weeks as the season enters one of its busiest periods.

His side lacked any penetration all evening and only forced Spurs' under-fire keeper Heurelho Gomes into action late in the second half.

To be honest the Irons were lucky to get away with a 2-0 defeat with the visitors running through them at will well before King opened the scoring with a smart header from an Aaron Lennon cross in the 68th minute.

Luka Modric could have put Spurs ahead as early as the second minute after poor West Ham defending allowed him a free strike at the ball from 12 yards, only for his shot to be directed straight at Robert Green.

The Hammers were restricted to several long range efforts during the first half, none of which were remotely on target.

And the Irons were grateful to Green, not for the first time this season, when the England keeper pulled off a fantastic diving save to deny David Bentley in the 38th minute.

Four minutes later Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko squandered a great chance when he got his toe to a Lennon cross but could only hit the post.

Spurs continued to look menacing in the second half with the lively Modric producing some delightful touches in midfield.

Even the introduction of Mark Noble, making a return from a lengthy injury lay-off, failed to add more purpose to the Hammers cause.

He replaced the ineffective Julien Faubert, who looked desperately short of confidence, but Noble found it hard to get into the game playing wide on the right.

The visitors should have scored in the 61st minute after an excellent passing move between Jermaine Jenas and Lennon, only for subsitute Darren Bent to scuff his shot wide.

But King made up for that when he outjumped his markers seven minutes later to place the ball wide of Green's left hand.

The Hammers were denied a stone-cold penalty on 74 minutes when referee Chris Foy failed to spot a blatant handball by Benoit Assou-Ekotto but even that failed to rouse the home supporters who seemed resigned to another disappointing display from their team.

It took until the 89th minute for West Ham to produce their best attacking moment.

Lucas Neill's fierce drive was well saved by Gomes but the ball rebounded out and was knocked back towards the goal, where David Di Michele was lurking unmarked but he could only poke his shot straight at Gomes from just two yards out.

To add insult to injury Spurs promptly took the ball up the park and scored.

O'Hara found acres of space in the Hammers half and, with the defenders backing off, hit a coruscating shot across Green from fully 25 yards into the corner of the net.

That prompted a mass exodus in the stands and Spurs comfortably saw out the added time to record their ninth win under Redknapp.

What will be worrying Hammers fans most, though, is the side's lack of goals. Just three in nine games is a poor return and will condemn them to relegation unless Zola can come up with a solution, and quickly.

Loan signings Di Michele and Diego Tristan, the latter making his debut last night as a late substitute, do not appear to be the answer, while Carlton Cole and Craig Bellamy are both finding the back of the net hard to find.

But Zola seemed at a loss to come up with an immediate solution, with a testing trip to Stamford Bridge looming on Sunday.

He said: "We will try something, obviously. We are going to be working on that, working on the strikers' confidence.

"We need to put it right because that is what we need right now. We knew we were conceding too much and we got to the point where we are not giving too many goals away but now we have to improve our scoring.

"We are going to be working on that."

West Ham: Green, Neill, Ilunga, Upson, Collins, Parker (Tristan, 82), Mullins (Di Michele, 73), Behrami, Faubert (Noble, 58), Bellamy, Cole. Unused subs: Lastuvka, Boa Morte, Davenport, Collison.

Goals: -

Booked: Behrami (foul)

Tottenham: Gomes, Corluka, King, Woodgate, Assou-Ekotto, Modric, Zokora, Bentley (O'Hara, 81), Lennon, Jenas, Pavlyuchenko (Bent, 54). Unused subs: Sanchez, Bale, Huddlestone, Dawson, Boateng.

Goals: King, 68; O'Hara, 90

Attendance: 34,277