Spurs thrash West Ham

A first half brace from Dimitar Berbatov and second half strikes from Gilberto and Darren Bent gave Spurs the victory against a West Ham side reduced to ten men for most of the game after Luis Boa Morte's 44th-minute dismissal. The result keeps Spurs in 11th but closes the gap on tenth-placed West Ham to five points.

West Ham started well enough, Freddie Ljungberg and Boa Morte working the flanks well and a fit again Scott Parker imposing himself in midfield.

Ljungberg forced an error from Paul Robinson on five minutes when his shot was only parried by the under-fire keeper, although he atoned by smothering twice from Dean Ashton and Boa Morte.

Ashton then really should have scored when, following the subsequent corner, he took the ball on his chest and volleyed inches over, and within seconds Spurs were ahead.

A well-placed right wing free kick from Tom Huddlestone landed on the head of a totally unmarked Berbatov, who glanced a deft header into the bottom left to give the hosts an eighth minute lead which was doubled soon afterwards when, from the opposite flank, the same combination leading to the Bulgaria star again finding himself free and easy to nod past the hapless Robert Green.

West Ham had forgotten how to defend, failing to mark players, drifting out of position, spooning clearances and giving the ball away willy-nilly.

George McCartney made a howling error to give the ball to Aaron Lennon, who lofted an inch-perfect ball for an unmarked Huddlestone to head freely - and over.

Alan Curbishley's man were providing mirth if not quality, and a comedy of errors saw Parker and McCartney contrive to play in Malbranque, whose low drive flew inches wide of the far post.

And just before the break things went from dreadful to downright rotten for the East Londoners when Boa Morte - already booked for an earlier foul on Huddlestone - received a second yellow and his marching orders after chopping down Lennon in crude fashion.

The second half was a fairly muted affair, Spurs pulling the strings and going close through Huddlestone with a long-range shot that whistled past the woodwork, Keane sending a half-volley inches wide and Lennon and then Zokora somehow failing to add a third with the Hammers defence at sixes and sevens.

Ashton went close from the edge of the box, but West Ham were playing catch-up on several fronts and, with Spurs closing the game off, the visitors were becoming increasingly frustrated, Parker lucky not to be booked for a couple of tasty challenges and Ljungberg shown yellow for a pointless verbal assault on the assistant referee after he over-hit a cross.

It became three when Gilberto made some amends for his midweek error in the loss to PSV, turning in the area after good work from Alan Hutton, Huddlestone and Pascal Chimbonda who fire low into the bottom right of the goal with five minutes remaining.

And Spurs completed the rout in injury-time when substitute Darren Bent headed Hutton's superb right wing cross into the ground and past Green to make it 4-0.

West Ham have to pick themselves up against Blackburn on Saturday, while Spurs face tricky away trips to PSV and Manchester City in he following week.