Hammers held by Spurs

Kanoute: Failed to breakdown a solid Spurs rearguard

West Ham United 0-0 Spurs

West Ham came crashing back down to earth in the league after their heroics in the cup at the weekend with a goalless draw against Spurs at Upton Park.

The Hammers hit the woodwork twice with a Frank Lampard header and a Stuart Pearce free-kick, but struggled to find the net despite dominating the game.

The opening half hour was a scrappy affair, galvanised only by flashes of brilliance from Joe Cole, Paolo di Canio and Frederic Kanoute.

We worked hard tonight and it is good to get another clean sheet under our belt but Spurs certainly deserved the point

  Harry Redknapp

However, it was Spurs who had a glorious chance to open the scoring less than three minutes into the match.

A loose ball landed at the feet of Sergei Rebrov from Steffen Freund's long throw but the Ukrainian could get no real power into his 15-yard shot and it bounced once before nestling in the arms of goalkeeper Shaka Hislop.

Much of the pre-match talk centred around the loan signing of Sheffield Wednesday star Andy Booth and it took the striker only fifteen minutes to get the ball in the back of the net.

The lively Darren Anderton skipped down the right before delivering a pin-point cross which the former Huddersfield forward powered past Shaka Hislop.

Rebrov: Missed an early chance

However, Booth's celebrations were cut short by the linesman flag and the goal was disallowed.

West Ham, who began the game sluggishly, gradually shook off their FA Cup hangover as the game progressed with Frank Lampard guilty of a number of misses.

First the youngster sent an ambitious scissors kick flying over the bar into the London night sky.

Then, after Kanoute had a goal ruled out, a piece of di Canio magic provided Lampard with a wonderful chance but the midfielder's bullet header crashed against the Spurs crossbar.

As the second half got underway, the West Ham onslaught began.

We produced a good, solid away performance and played some good football as well. I'm very pleased with the players. They did very well considering West Ham must have been on a high after their FA Cup win at Manchester United

  George Graham, Spurs manager

First, di Canio and Kanoute spurned opportunities and then Pearce struck the post with a ferocious free kick from the right.

Spurs, though, emerged from their shell and Rebrov's shot looked goalbound in the 55th minute until it hit Tihinen in the stomach.

The Finn made an even more important clearance three minutes later when he acrobatically hooked the ball from under the bar after Oyvind Leonhardsen.

However, neither side looked like breaking the deadlock and the game ended goalless, leaving both sets of fans disappointed.

West Ham: Hislop, Stuart Pearce, Dailly, Tihinen, Winterburn, Schemmel, Carrick, Cole, Lampard, Di Canio, Kanoute. Subs: Forrest, Moncur, Song, Camara, Soma.

Tottenham: Walker, Doherty, Campbell, Perry, King, Freund, Anderton, Leonhardsen, Clemence, Booth, Rebrov. Subs: Segers, Young, Sherwood, McEwen, Thelwell.

Referee: Neale Barry (Scunthorpe).