Terrific Tevez but Hammers despair

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LONDON, England -- Argentinian Carlos Tevez scored his first goal for West Ham and had a hand in two others but the East London side's hopes of avoiding relegation from the Premier League nose-dived as visitors Tottenham grabbed a dramatic 4-3 victory.

Alan Curbishley's men were leading 3-2 after substitute Bobby Zamora headed them into an 85th-minute lead from a pin-point Tevez free kick, but Tottenham staged a stirring revival.

Bulgarian international Dimitar Berbatov capped a fine personal performance of his own by curling home a free kick from the edge of the area for an 89th minute equalizer.

West Ham pushed forward in search of the three points and Tevez came agonizingly close with a fierce shot, but were caught out by a Tottenham breakaway.

Jermain Defoe's shot was pushed out by Robert Green and substitute Paul Stalteri proved an unlikely game winner.

'It was an amazing game. I thought we were the better team. If you score four goals at West Ham it's a big compliment to us," said Tottenham manager Martin Jol whose team move up to eight in the Premier League, challenging for a UEFA Cup place.

A bitterly disappointed Curbishley blamed his side's "naive" defending for their defeat.

"Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong. We've got nine games left and if we put in that work rate we may get the wins we need, but it's looking tough now," he said.

West Ham, ten points from safety going into Sunday's match, made a dream start with Tevez tormenting the visiting defense with his silky skills.

His clinical pass was met by Mark Noble to put West Ham ahead in the 16th minute with a unstoppable shot past Paul Robinson.

Tottenham had chances of their own and Green made important saves before Tevez popped up to add to West Ham's advantage.

Brought down on the edge of the area by Michael Dawson, the stocky midfielder recovered his composure and curled home a masterful free kick from 20 meters.

He tore off his shirt and ran to a section of fans to celebrate, promptly earning a yellow card for his troubles.

Jol introduced Tom Huddlestone for Hossam Ghaly to stiffen their midfield for the second half and they were soon level.

Aaron Lennon was pulled down in the box by Lee Bowyer and Defoe stepped up to score against his old club on 51 minutes.

Lennon was involved again as he impudently flicked on Berbatov's cross from the right, the ball falling perfectly for Teemu Tainio to volley home.

To West Ham's credit they recovered their composure and Zamora's third against his old club looked to have given them a precious three points until Tottenham's cruel late charge.

In the day's other game, fifth-placed Bolton were beaten 2-1 at home by Lancashire neighbors Blackburn who were two up from a pair of Benni McCarthy penalties until Nicolas Anelka scored a late consolation.

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