West Ham United denied Tottenham Hotspur the chance to move up to the top of the Premier League table for the first time this season by beating their London rivals 1-0 at Upton Park on Wednesday night.
Michail Antonio scored the only goal of the game as the Hammers put a dent in Spurs' title hopes in the seventh minute of the clash.
Spurs remain second in the standings, three points behind leaders Leicester City, while West Ham's charge for a European spot continues as Slaven Bilic's side move up to fifth, just one point behind Manchester City and Manchester United, who are fourth and fifth respectively.
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Antonio has been in fine form of late having scored in four of his last five home games before tonight, and he continued that trend by giving the Hammers an early lead.
The ball was whipped into the box by Dimitri Payet from the corner flag and it found the head of Antonio, who directed it towards the near post, and despite Hugo Lloris getting a touch, it was not enough to keep out the header.
After being dealt an early blow, Spurs tried to immediately respond through Ben Davies, who drilled a low shot towards the centre of the goal, but Adrian comfortably dropped to the floor to make a save.
West Ham went hunting for more goals and Mark Noble came close with a 25-yard strike, but Lloris leapt in the air to his left to prevent the ball from nestling into the net.
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Spurs had the majority of first-half possession, but they struggled to find that clinical touch in the final third and many of Mauricio Pochettino's players were guilty of stray passes.
Lloris almost had an embarrassing moment when his heavy touch off a back-pass from Kieran Trippier nearly allowed Emmanuel Emenike to latch on, but the keeper managed to get to the ball moments before the West Ham forward could cause any trouble.
As the first half grew, so did Payet's influence in the game and the Frenchman came close to scoring a goal of his own when he attempted to curl the ball past Lloris after cutting into the box, but his shot was blocked.
After the break, Spurs needed a reaction and they went the right way about doing so as they improved on the ball and began putting their opponents under pressure.
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Erik Lamela had a decent opportunity to score early in the second half when Trippier was caught napping at the near post, allowing the Argentine to meet the end of a cross and divert a header, but his attempt went wide.
Adrian was called upon in quick succession as he needed to prevent Harry Kane from striking when his initial save from Toby Alderweireld's 30-yard effort fell into the feet of the forward, but the England international could not connect well and the keeper managed to push the ball away.
Christian Eriksen was also denied by the keeper as his powerful strike from an acute angle on the right side of the box was blocked by Adrian.
The second half was controlled by Spurs, but against the run of play, Antonio came close to nabbing a second when he connected with Payet's ball into the box, although this time his header went over the bar.
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Tottenham tried to find a way through and Pochettino brought on Dele Alli off the bench in a bid to make something happen for the visiting side, but they continued to struggle in the final third.
The away team put West Ham under pressure in the dying minutes of the game as a corner from Eriksen almost caused an upset to the hosts, but Adrian was there to punch clear.
Spurs will look at the result as an opportunity missed, particularly as their title rivals Arsenal were beaten 2-1 by Swansea City at the Emirates this evening.
Tottenham face their North London enemies on Saturday.
Danielle Joynson
