Tottenham Hotspur 2 West Ham 0

Gianfranco Zola's men were hampered by the continued absence of key players like Carlton Cole and the loss of both Scott Parker and Herita Ilunga to injury inside the first 20 minutes yesterday, but that cannot excuse the dismal display that can only have disappointed the fervent travelling support.

From the outset it looked as though West Ham would have their backs to the wall all afternoon. As early as the third minute the lively Aaron Lennon earned himself a corner, setting the tone for the rest of the game as he continually tore holes in the Irons defence.

The England winger set up the opening goal for Luka Modric in the 11th minute as he was released down the right by Jermain Defoe, outpaced the covering Matthew Upson and saw his low centre deflected by James Tomkins into the path of the onrushing Croatian who volleyed it into the ground and over the diving Rob Green.

The Hammers misery was compounded as Parker limped off immediately after with a tight hamstring.

He was joined on the bench seven minutes later by Ilunga, also with a tight hamstring, and one feared for the patched up Irons defence in the face of Spurs attacking intent.

The visitors didn't help themselves by too often surrendering possession cheaply, while they lacked any creativity going forward, with the willing Guillermo Franco too isolated in Zola's 4-5-1 formation. Indeed the Hammers only effort on goal in the first period was a weak drive from Jack Collison easily gathered by Huerelho Gomes.

Spurs could sense the Irons were there for the taking and pressed for a second goal.

Tom Huddlestone drove a 25 yard effort narrowly wide, while Peter Crouch saw his flick drift past the post, thanks to a deflection off Tomkins which the referee missed.

Defoe almost added a second just before the break when he fired a 25 yard free kick just wide with Green struggling to get across.

Zola must have said something to galvanise his players during the interval as the Irons took to the field in more positive fashion in the second period, but Tottenham continued to dominate.

Huddlestone and Lennon both wasted good shooting opportunities, while Wilson Palacios saw his shot deflected for a corner by Upson.

Huddlestone then hit the post with a low cross shot and Modric wasted the follow up.

It took until the hour mark for West Ham to finally look as though they were going to make a match of it, with Alessandro Diamanti starting to come into the game more.

The Italian, surely wasted played wide on the right where his contributions are fitful, began to link up with the disappointing Luis Jiminez, although Spurs back four - well marshalled by Ledley King all afternoon - had little trouble keeping them at bay.

Diamanti was clearly getting frustrated and was lucky not to be booked for a petulant kick at Assou-Ekotto but did find himself yellow carded moments later.

As the game began to open up West Ham pressed forward more but still failed to create any clear cut openings.

And they were caught on the break on 81 minutes when Junior Stanislas, on for the tiring Collison, lost possession on the edge of Spurs' box.

The ball was threaded through to Defoe and although the former Hammers' striker had plenty to still to do he was waved through by a hesitant back line to unleash a venomous shot from the edge of the box.

The ball rebounded off the startled Green and Defoe reacted quickest to smash the ball home from 12 yards.

It was no more than Spurs deserved, although West Ham almost pulled one back through Diamanti's late shot, well saved by Gomes, but by then the game had gone.

Zola has plenty to think about with his side still too close to the Premier League trapdoor. The next few weeks will be crucial as his side play those clubs around them in the basement and unless they improve on yesterday's performance there is a very real danger they will find themselves adrift by the end of January.

Spurs: Gomes, Corluka, Assou-Ekotto (Bale, 87), Dawson, King, Modric (Kranjcar, 83), Palacios, Defoe, Crouch, Lennon (Jenas, 89). Unused subs: Alnwick, Hutton, Keane, Bassong.

Booked: Corluka, Defoe.

Goals: Modric 11, Defoe 81

West Ham: Green, Faubert, Ilunga (Spector, 19), Tomkins, Upson, Parker (Jiminez, 12), Kovac, Behrami, Collison (Stanislas, 79), Franco, Diamanti. Unused subs: Stech, Da Costa, Nouble, Payne.

Booked: Franco, Kovac, Diamanti.

Attendance: 35,994

Referee: Chris Foy