Tottenham 4 - 0 West Ham

[bandini]

Dimitar Berbatov's two headers helped Tottenham towards victory at White Hart Lane as West Ham boss Alan Curbishley suffered his third consecutive 4-0 defeat.

Berbatov netted both of his goals early in the first half of the Barclays Premier League clash, with hopes of a Hammers comeback virtually ending when Luis Boa Morte was dismissed just before the break.


Empics
Dimitar Berbatov slots home the first.

Gilberto came off the bench and added a third before Darren Bent headed a fourth.

• Curbs: We must stop the rot

Spurs head coach Juande Ramos has now completed a London treble this season, defeating Arsenal and Chelsea in the Carling Cup and now bitter rivals West Ham.

It also ended Spurs' run of back-to-back defeats ahead of their UEFA Cup trip to PSV Eindhoven.

But West Ham's slump continued, following 4-0 defeats to Chelsea and Liverpool last week.

Their poor run saw Curbishley wake up to reports of his job being insecure. His response was to pick an attacking formation that fans have been craving this season.

Dean Ashton and Bobby Zamora were paired up front but, despite the latter being unfortunate with an early chance, they made little impact throughout.

Zamora took advantage of a Paul Robinson fumble but saw his finish loop over off team-mate Boa Morte.

Going into the clash in 10th and 11th, both teams knew they would not move up or down the table with victory or defeat. With the Carling Cup securing European football next season, Spurs have been accused of neglecting league matters.

'It is a matter of us showing professionalism,' said Ramos in his programme notes.

The Spaniard emphasised his point by picking a strong side, with just Ledley King rested and Jermaine Jenas out with a twisted ankle.

They were ahead after eight minutes, although Curbishley was protesting to fourth official Uriah Rennie near the tunnel and missed Berbatov's opener.

The Hammers boss was furious that Jonathan Spector, in place of injured Matthew Upson, had been penalised for a foul on Berbatov.

Tom Huddlestone swung over a free-kick from the right flank and Berbatov's header on the penalty spot skidded past Robert Green into the far corner.

The Spurs pair combined again three minutes later from the opposite flank with the same outcome. Berbatov's header this time beating Green at the near post.

It was too much for Freddie Ljungberg, who threw a water bottle to the touchline in disgust, while Alan Hutton was on the receiving end of a spiteful late tackle.

Huddlestone, creator of the first two, then almost added to the scoring when he got on the end of Aaron Lennon's cross, but his header was too high.

Boa Morte picked up his first booking after persistent fouling, and he was constantly battling with Hutton and Robbie Keane. Keane, in turn, angered Hammers fans with a gesture towards his own supporters acknowledging the recent Carling Cup triumph.

Steed Malbranque was the next to try his luck but his angled drive went wide of Green's post. Green also saved a Berbatov volley when another Huddlestone set-piece caused problems.

Boa Morte received his second yellow card a minute from half-time for a foul on Lennon.

There did not appear to be any complaints from the West Ham bench but Curbishley had words with referee Chris Foy in the tunnel at half-time, protesting about the foul leading up to the opener.

Huddlestone's effort went just wide early in the second half, while Ashton went over at the other end with a shot from the edge of the penalty area and Lucas Neill tested Robinson from a similar distance.

'We've only got 10 men,' chanted the West Ham fans. Despite the visitors applying pressure, Spurs could have added a third through Keane and Lennon when they broke.

Gilberto was brought on for Malbranque just before the hour mark for his Premier League debut, and Bent was given a run in place of Keane.

The third came when Gilberto scored with a shot on the turn, with six minutes remaining, after Lennon had dummied a Pascal Chimbonda pass. Bent added the fourth with a stoppage-time header.

# Curbs: We must stop the rot

Alan Curbishley is hopeful that his board understand the injury crisis he has faced as West Ham's season threatens to fizzle out following a third 4-0 defeat in a row.

Curbishley woke up to reports suggesting his job may be insecure, although he feels his board are sympathetic about the problems he has had with players missing during his first full campaign at the club.

'I think they are realistic about it but we'll have to see on that score because it's a results business,' the Hammers boss said.

'Up until this week we hadn't been too bad so we'll have to bounce back.'

He added: 'We're in football and nothing surprises anybody but I would have thought (they would understand). They are realistic about what has gone on. They get the update every Monday of the injury situation.

'Any other team that has had six or seven out every week would find it difficult. You can see the difference in teams with settled sides.'

Anton Ferdinand was to blame for Berbatov's two goals, both free headers from Tom Huddlestone free-kicks.

'He was nowhere to be seen,' said Curbishley.

'He's got to dig in, he gave a penalty away against Chelsea early in the game and put us on the back foot.

'You can't allow centre-forwards to have free headers.

'Berbatov didn't have to jump. Then straight away there was another one. It's difficult to come back from it.'

Curbishley was upset with Jonathan Spector being penalised for fouling Berbatov leading up to the opener.

'He fell over in stages,' the Hammers boss added.

'They (referees) spend all week on this and that and looking at videos and perhaps they have got to realise one or two things that were going on.'

Curbishley had no complaints, though, when Luis Boa Morte was dismissed for two bookings, the second coming a minute before the break.

'We took two wallopings going into the game and I asked for more aggression and application,' he said.

'He was done for persistence.

'Luis put a wholehearted performance in but he's on thin ice and has to make sure he gets to half-time. He hasn't and that has killed us off a bit.'

Gilberto made his Barclays Premier League debut when he came off the bench and he scored with a finish on the turn, then Bent headed in the fourth in stoppage-time.

'We put ourselves in a position where we expect to finish in the top half,' Curbishley added.

'We've lost three games on the spin and we're still there so it's all to play for still.

'The pressure when you lose three games 4-0 is there, and we have to bounce back. We all have to. It's only them that can go out and do it.

'We have to regroup and get on. There are not many options with our injury situation and we have to just get on. Our aim is to finish in the top half and as high as we can, and we can still do that. It's a long way back for us.'

Spurs head coach Juande Ramos was pleased with his side's response after two defeats since winning the Carling Cup.

'The goals made it easier and we were in control for a large part of the match,' said the Spaniard.

'It was important to have a victory to recover people's esteem.'

The only negative aspect of the afternoon was Jonathan Woodgate taking a knock to his foot and calf and getting taken off as a precaution.

source: ESPNsoccernet - Report: Tottenham vs West Ham - English Premier League

[kyan]

Very good goals scored.

Great freekicks and headers from Huddlestone and Berbs.

Gilberto did well to recover so soon after a poor showing v PSV.

And it was good to see Bent score, he needs to improve quickly... Great cross from Hutton too.

Boa Morte really needs to grow up, he's so petty.

Spurs 8 pts behind West Ham now, will they catch up??? 3 4-0 defeats in a row for West Ham.... on that form, definitely, although the league doesn't matter so much for Spurs this season.

[keano10]

We're actually only 5 points behind West Ham and we have a game in hand, although that is against Chelsea. I think we can catch West Ham, but I agree the league is not the most important thing at the moment.

Bent has been suffering from low confidence, so it was good to see him score. Hopefully, he will get a few more games in the league between now and the end of the season and score a few more goals. It was another very impressive performance from Hutton and a superb cross for Bent's goal.

Here's hoping we repeat that performance tomorrow against PSV.

Come on you Spurs!