West Ham ride their luck to frustrate Spurs

West Ham climbed out of the relegation zone after riding their luck to escape with a 0-0 draw against London rivals Tottenham on Saturday.

Avram Grant's side moved up three places ahead of Saturday's 1500GMT matches with a gritty display at White Hart Lane, but they needed some good fortune to avoid defeat as Tottenham hit the woodwork three times.

Spurs, who stay fifth and are now two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, almost took an early lead through an unlikely source when centre-back Michael Dawson hit the crossbar with a curling effort.

Carlton Cole should have put West Ham ahead but shot tamely at Heurelho Gomes with only the Spurs goalkeeper to beat.

Aaron Lennon also struck the woodwork for Spurs, with Jermain Defoe shooting wide from the rebound.

Spurs midfielder Sandro was sick on the side of the pitch before the start of the second half but his side continued to dominate.

Substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko forced a fine late save from West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green, who also pushed a Gareth Bale free-kick onto the bar.