Hammers defeat Spurs

Tottenham's dreams of Champions League football bit the dust after they were beaten 2-1 by West Ham and Arsenal closed Highbury with victory over Wigan. Spurs held fourth place before kick-off but had to match Arsenal's result to open up the opportunity of qualifying for the Champions League next season.

And after suffering a severe outbreak of food poisoning in the team hotel overnight, Spurs will find it particularly hard to stomach that it was hated local rivals West Ham and Arsenal who combined to deny them.

Jermain Defoe's expert finish on his return to Upton Park drew Spurs level at half-time after Carl Fletcher had rifled West Ham into the lead with a 30-yard special.

Paul Robinson saved a penalty from Teddy Sheringham but as news of the Highbury score filtered through at Upton Park, Yossi Benayoun hammered the final nail in Tottenham's coffin 10 minutes from time.

Arsenal snatched fourth place on the final weekend of Barclays Premiership action and Spurs will now join West Ham in the UEFA Cup next season.

Tottenham wanted the game to be delayed until the evening after up to 10 players were laid low by food poisoning. The game was in doubt until just 90 minutes before kick-off.

But when local police advised the game could only be delayed by two hours, Spurs medics ruled it was not enough time and the club agreed to the game going ahead as scheduled.

West Ham, with Benayoun on the left of midfield, were clearly out to take advantage of any lingering illness in the Tottenham camp and made a blistering start.

The Hammers were enjoying huge success down the left flank where Benayoun was cutting in from the wing to link cleverly with Bobby Zamora and Sheringham.

Sheringham and Reo-Coker both tried their luck with long-range shots in the first two minutes and Benayoun fired wide after latching onto Zamora's pass.

But just a minute later West Ham's pressure told. Carl Fletcher, given his chance in place of the suspended Hayden Mullins, drifted in from the left flank and unleashed a fizzing shot from 30 yards that dipped in front of Paul Robinson and flew in at the far post.

Sheringham almost made it two soon after as West Ham counter-attacked slickly from a Spurs corner. His curling cross-shot disappeared just wide of Robinson's right-hand post.

When Tottenham did test West Ham, Teemu Tainio's lay-off in the box wrong-footed Defoe and Tainio then headed a corner over the bar.

West Ham had wasted a glorious chance with an indirect free-kick on the edge of Tottenham's six-yard box awarded, much to Robinson's disgust, for a handled back pass.

And Spurs pounced to draw level 10 minutes before the interval. Michael Carrick picked out Defoe and the England striker held off Anton Ferdinand to slot a superb shot past Shaka Hislop and inside the far post.

Robinson pulled off a smart save from Newton's volley just before half-time and proved the hero again after the re-start with a penalty save from Sheringham after Zamora had been tripped by Michael Dawson in the box.

West Ham, unsurprisingly the more energetic of the two sides, responded well but still could not find the killer finish. Zamora escaped the offside trap to latch onto a through-ball from Benayoun but got the ball caught under his feet and Lee Young-Pyo recovered to clear his lines.

Sheringham, who had not enjoyed his most influential day's work, was replaced by Marlon Harewood as Hammers boss Alan Pardew looked to inject some spark up front.

And as Spurs became increasingly desperate in their hunt for the winner, West Ham were left with space to attack.

Zamora forced Robinson into a full-length save with a 25-yard drive. Spurs could not clear their lines from the corner and Benayoun found space in the box to fire the winner into the top right-hand corner.