Graham Potter found himself back under pressure as Tottenham returned to winning ways with a 3-0 London derby demolition of West Ham.
Pape Matar Sarr, Lucas Bergvall and Micky van de Ven got the goals as Spurs, playing their first match since the departure of chairman Daniel Levy, bounced back from the 1-0 home defeat by Bournemouth a fortnight ago.
But for West Ham, any of the confidence garnered from their surprise 3-0 win at Nottingham Forest evaporated as, for the second home game in a row, they wilted in front of a London rival.
To rub salt in the wounds, they had Tomas Soucek sent off and are now without a win in their last seven home matches – their worst run since moving to the London Stadium and a damning one which under-fire boss Potter needs to arrest quickly.
Yet again the unloved former Olympic Stadium was half empty long before the end, when even the constant booing of Mohammed Kudus – the Ghana winger who had the temerity to join Spurs from West Ham this summer – had worn thin.
Yet when Kudus gave the ball away in West Ham’s half early on they almost scored on the counter, only for Lucas Paqueta to pull his shot wide.
Moments later Kudus briefly silenced the jeers when he swung in a corner which was headed home by Cristian Romero.
But referee Jarred Gillett spotted a shove in the box by Van de Ven on Kyle Walker-Peters and ruled out the goal with the VAR not seeing fit to intervene.
Tottenham’s injured midfielder James Maddison was not impressed, writing on X: “Honestly the referees & VAR have had an absolute shocker of a start to the season.
“If that goal is disallowed for a foul you will never ever see a corner be taken without referee blowing for something ever again.”
Corners quickly became the recurring theme of the first half, as three of the goals West Ham keeper Mads Hermansen conceded in the 5-1 home drubbing by Chelsea came from them.
Spurs clearly knew it, as every one of the eight they forced in the first half were curled right under his crossbar.
West Ham somehow survived the bombardment until half-time – but it only took 100 seconds of the second half for them to concede a fifth goal from a corner this season, Sarr unmarked as he headed home at the far post.
When Soucek was shown a straight red card for a studs-up foul on Joao Paulinha, West Ham quickly unravelled.
Barely a minute later Romero’s long ball caught them cold and Bergvall guided a superb header over the stranded Hermansen.
Bergvall laid on a third for Van de Ven to lash home, prompting a familiar exodus from the home fans and leaving Potter with plenty still to ponder.
