West Ham United have defeated 10-man Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at Upton Park to confirm their stay in the Premier League for another season.
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It was almost the perfect start for the visitors as Harry Kane charged down Adrian's kick, only for the ball to end up going wide of the target.
Shortly after, a corner into the box caused confusion for Spurs, with Guy Demel's looping effort eventually hitting the top of the crossbar before Hugo Lloris was able to collect.
On 25 minutes Younes Kaboul was dismissed after bringing down Downing who broke free of the Tottenham defence, with referee Phil Dowd deciding that the Frenchman was the last man.
West Ham capitalised on the decision, and were ahead just one minute later courtesy of Andy Carroll, who headed home from a corner to give the Hammers a first-half lead.
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Lloris pulled off a fine save to keep his side in the contest after 36 minutes, getting down low to push away Matt Taylor's half-volley from the edge of the box.
The keeper was unable to keep out Stuart Downing's free kick on the verge of half time, with the winger finding the net from 20 yards out to double the Hammers' advantage.
The home side went in search of a third goal, and Mohamed Diame very nearly found it when he struck an acrobatic overhead kick towards goal which was again kept out by Lloris.
The France international was needed once more moments later, this time to keep out Kevin Nolan who got on the end of Carroll's knockdown, with Lloris getting something on the effort to put it out of play for a corner.
Danny Rose came close to pulling a goal back for Tim Sherwood's charges late on, but he was denied by Adrian to ensure that the game ended 2-0.
The victory lifts West Ham up to 12th in the Premier League table, while Tottenham remain in sixth place.
Daniel Lewis
